SURMISES Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

surmises 1 of 2

noun

plural of surmise

as in guesses

an opinion or judgment based on little or no evidence my surmise is that the couple's "good news" is the announcement that they are going to have a baby

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surmises

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of surmise

as in assumes

to form an opinion from little or no evidence we surmised that she had purchased the apple pie since there was a bakery box on the kitchen counter

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of surmises

Noun

Nothing in your life has dissuaded you from these early surmises. — Padgett Powell, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026

Verb

Many Spaniards lived or even committed atrocities in the Civil War, suffering a collective guilt, Ruiz Capillas surmises. — John Hopewell, Variety, 12 Aug. 2026 Evans surmises the fish that survived were in an area of the creek where less charred material and sediment were swept in. — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026 Upon entering the house, Donnie surmises there is an orgy-type party going on. — Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026 Cohen surmises that the home was the first on the block. — Culture Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Jan. 2026 Morgan correctly surmises that a misdelivered piece of mail was a move by the Game Master and not just a fuckup by the postal service. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025 In the study, Ned correctly surmises that Colum riled Dougal up into beating Malcolm so that Colum could be seen as the cooler head/better leader. — Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 8 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for surmises

Noun

And investors face a fresh round of guesses about how quickly renewable energy use could grow – especially as oil prices stay high.

— The Conversation, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026
Below are all of our guesses on what’s still on the showgirl’s mind in between the main act and the encore.

— Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of guesses

Verb

But much of the deleveraging framework, Condon acknowledged, assumes the underlying businesses continue to perform largely in line with their pre-transaction trajectories, making execution incredibly important.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
The White House’s claim that truckers will save more than $100 per fill-up assumes states suspend their own diesel taxes as well, which the order encourages but can’t require.

— Steven John, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of assumes

Verb

Knowing someone's baseline characteristics is not the same as knowing what that person thinks about this decision today.

— Leslie John, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
What to read next For Mars, the team thinks that this balance was reversed, with roughly three-quarters of its mass appearing to come from planetesimals, and the remaining quarter from pebble accretion.

— Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of thinks

Verb

Homeownership has long been a marker of the American Dream, but this dream presumes autonomy, voice and equitable treatment.

— Stephanie A. Dhuman, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
But that logic presumes every single aspect of both studios’ production pipelines will continue to operate normally once Paramount and WBD become one.

— Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of presumes

Verb

Balasubramanian suspects that even this kind of radical model doesn’t go far enough.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026
British Columbia suspects that OpenAI actually wanted to avoid drawing a hard line that would require OpenAI to report more violent users to the police and expose the public to more of the real-world threats that chatbots could pose.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of suspects

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“Surmises.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surmises. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of surmises

noun

verb

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