# guessing

/ˈɡɛsɪŋ/ (US) · /ɡˈɛsɪŋ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/guessing
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. the act of making a guess

noun · CEFR B1

the act of trying to give an answer or an opinion when you are not sure if you are right.

For teachers: the process of making a conjecture or estimate without sufficient information for certainty.

- After a lot of guessing, we finally found the right key for the door.
- The final figure was the result of educated guessing rather than precise calculation, as the primary data sources were incomplete.

### 2. making a guess now

verb · CEFR A2

the form of the verb 'guess' used for actions happening now or for describing a process.

For teachers: the present participle of 'guess', used in continuous tenses to indicate the ongoing act of conjecture.

- Stop guessing and just look at the map to see where we are.
- The analysts were still guessing at the potential market impact when the official announcement rendered their speculations moot.

Usage: Used with the verb 'to be' to form continuous tenses.

## Examples

- My answer was just a lucky guessing.
- After several minutes of wild guessing, the students finally realized they were looking at the wrong map.
- The detective admitted that his initial theory was based on educated guessing rather than concrete forensic evidence, though it eventually led him to the correct suspect.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.