Chinese word

揣测

Pronunciation

Pinyinchuǎi cè

Meaning

  • verbguess

Example

我很难揣测他的真实想法。wǒ hěn nán chuǎi cè tā de zhēn shí xiáng fǎ

It is hard for me to guess what he really thinks.

Illustration for 揣测 (guess)

More examples

在没有更多证据的情况下，大家不应随便揣测真相。zài méi yǒu gèng duō zhèng jù de qíng kuàng xià dà jiā bù yīng suí biàn chuǎi cè zhēn xiàng

Without more evidence, people should not casually speculate about the truth.

Core concept

Build a tentative view of something hidden from a small amount of evidence.

Common phrases

  • 揣测意图chuǎi cè yì tú

    speculate about the intention

  • 揣测心理chuǎi cè xīn lǐ

    speculate about the state of mind

  • 揣测真相chuǎi cè zhēn xiàng

    speculate about the truth

Similar words

猜测cāi cè: Tries to work out facts or feelings from little evidence and personal intuition.
推测tuī cè: Infers a likely reason or possibility from the information available.
推断tuī duàn: Uses evidence and reasons to arrive at a logical conclusion.
估计gū jì: Calculates a likely number, amount, or result roughly from experience or information.

Definition in Chinese

用有限的信息或直观的感觉，对未知情况做出可能性判断或假设。yòng yǒu xiàn de xìn xī huò zhí guān de gǎn jué duì wèi zhī qíng kuàng zuò chū kě néng xìng pàn duàn huò jiǎ shè

Word origin

The compound 揣测 (chuǎicè, "to infer") joins 揣 (chuǎi, "to probe") and 测 (cè, "to measure"), linking the word to a careful estimate made without full information.

Usage tips

  • English speakers often use "guess" for both a casual answer and a reasoned estimate, but this word highlights that the conclusion remains uncertain because the evidence is incomplete.

Other meanings

  • speculateverb
  • inferverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word