What does speculation mean?
Word: Speculation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Speculation means ideas or guesses about something when the facts are not known; also buying things in the hope of selling them for a profit.
Synonyms: guesswork, conjecture, rumour, theory
Antonyms: fact, proof
How do you spell speculation?
Syllables: spec - u - la - tion
Tricky part: The ending is -tion, not -sion, and the l is single. Watch for specualtion, where the l and a swap.
Watch out for: speculasion, specullation, specualtion
Memory tip: You wonder, you guess: think of the u in speculation as you, doing the guessing.
Speculation in a sentence
Example 1: There was a lot of speculation about the new teacher before she arrived.
Example 2: The newspaper story was pure speculation, with no facts behind it.
Example 3: Speculation in land made prices near the new airport shoot up.
Fun Fact
The Indus script has led to many attempted decipherments and much speculation, yet no one has been able to read it for sure.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Which word means the opposite of speculation in this sentence?
Before the results were put up, there was endless speculation in the hostel about the toppers.
a) certainty
b) excitement
c) gossip
d) curiosity
Show answer
a) certainty. Gossip, curiosity and excitement all fit a hostel waiting for news; certainty is what comes once the names are put up.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Whether the new swimming pool would open before the holidays was still a matter of tcuosnilaep among the pupils.
a) percolation
b) circulation
c) speculation
d) population
Show answer
c) speculation. None of circulation, population or percolation has an s, so only speculation uses all these letters.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letter to form a word:
spe_ulation
a) k
b) q
c) c
d) s
Show answer
c) c. The k sound after spe is spelt with a c here, so the gap takes c.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. hypothisis 2. predicshun 3. speculation 4. evidance
a) a statement about what will happen
b) forming opinions without proof
c) an idea to be tested by experiment
d) facts that show something is true
Show answer
b) forming opinions without proof. Hypothesis has an e after the th, prediction ends in -tion and evidence in -ence, so speculation is the correct word.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these statements is speculation rather than fact?
a) New Delhi is the capital of India.
b) Maybe the new mall will open in June.
c) A week has exactly seven days.
d) The Ganga flows into the Bay of Bengal.
Show answer
b) Maybe the new mall will open in June.
2. Press speculation means ____.
a) a fault in a printing machine
b) the salary of a journalist
c) guesses printed in newspapers
d) the price of a daily newspaper
Show answer
c) guesses printed in newspapers
