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Conjecture vs Surmise - What's the difference?

conjecture | surmise |

As nouns the difference between conjecture and surmise

is that conjecture is a statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a guess while surmise is thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.

As verbs the difference between conjecture and surmise

is that conjecture is to guess; to venture an unproven idea while surmise is to conjecture, to opine or to posit with contestable premises.

conjecture

English

Noun

  • (formal) A statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a .
  • I explained it, but it is pure conjecture whether he understood, or not.
  • (formal) A supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis.
  • The physicist used his conjecture about subatomic particles to design an experiment.
  • (mathematics, philology) A statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally (l).
  • (obsolete) of signs and omens.
  • Synonyms

    * * See also

    Verb

    (conjectur)
  • (formal) To ; to venture an unproven idea.
  • I do not know if it is true; I am simply conjecturing here.
  • * South
  • Human reason can then, at the best, but conjecture what will be.

    surmise

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
  • surmises of jealousy or of envy
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • No man ought to be charged with principles he actually disowns, unless his practices contradict his profession; not upon small surmises .
  • * 1919 ,
  • The meeting had been devoid of incident. No word had been said to give me anything to think about, and any surmises I might make were unwarranted. I was intrigued.
  • Reflection; thought; posit.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Verb

    (surmis)
  • To conjecture, to opine or to posit with contestable premises.