What does speculative mean?
Definitions for speculative
ˈspɛk yəˌleɪ tɪv, -lə tɪvspec·u·la·tive
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word speculative.
Princeton's WordNet
bad, risky, high-risk, speculativeadjective
not financially safe or secure
"a bad investment"; "high risk investments"; "anything that promises to pay too much can't help being risky"; "speculative business enterprises"
notional, speculativeadjective
not based on fact or investigation
"a notional figure of cost helps in determining production costs"; "speculative knowledge"
inquisitive, speculative, questioning, wondering(a)adjective
showing curiosity
"if someone saw a man climbing a light post they might get inquisitive"; "raised a speculative eyebrow"
GCIDE
Speculativeadjective
(Finance) More risky than typical investments; not investment grade.
Wiktionary
speculativeadjective
Characterized by speculation; based on guessing or unfounded opinions.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Speculativeadjective
Etymology: speculatif, Fr. from speculate.
If all other uses were utterly taken away, yet the mind of man being by nature speculative and delighted with contemplation in itself, they were to be known even for meer knowledge sake. Richard Hooker.
It encourages speculative persons who have no turn of mind to encrease their fortunes. Addison.
Some take it for a speculative platform, that reason and nature would that the best should govern, but no wise to create a right. Francis Bacon, holy War.
ChatGPT
speculative
Speculative refers to ideas, theories, or actions that are based on conjecture, hypothesizing, or abstract reasoning rather than concrete facts or evidence. It often involves a significant degree of risk or uncertainty. This term is commonly used in fields such as finance, philosophy, and science.
Webster Dictionary
Speculativeadjective
given to speculation; contemplative
Speculativeadjective
involving, or formed by, speculation; ideal; theoretical; not established by demonstration
Speculativeadjective
of or pertaining to vision; also, prying; inquisitive; curious
Speculativeadjective
of or pertaining to speculation in land, goods, shares, etc.; as, a speculative dealer or enterprise
Etymology: [Cf. F. spculatif, L. speculativus.]
Wikidata
Speculative
A cause of death may be labelled speculative, when circumstances are mysterious or unexplained, or when evidence from autopsy conflicts with other reports or rumours.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1524","1"],["1572","6"],["1581","1"],["1584","1"],["1600","5"],["1607","4"],["1624","1"],["1642","5"],["1644","4"],["1647","2"],["1655","1"],["1656","6"],["1658","3"],["1659","1"],["1664","3"],["1665","1"],["1666","4"],["1667","11"],["1668","13"],["1671","1"],["1672","1"],["1673","3"],["1675","6"],["1676","6"],["1677","13"],["1678","1"],["1679","5"],["1680","1"],["1681","7"],["1682","5"],["1683","7"],["1684","8"],["1685","6"],["1686","8"],["1687","1"],["1688","13"],["1689","3"],["1690","20"],["1693","3"],["1694","2"],["1696","10"],["1697","3"],["1698","10"],["1699","5"],["1700","14"],["1701","15"],["1702","17"],["1703","4"],["1704","17"],["1705","25"],["1706","62"],["1707","11"],["1708","25"],["1709","23"],["1710","7"],["1711","13"],["1712","17"],["1713","20"],["1714","56"],["1715","15"],["1716","13"],["1717","27"],["1718","43"],["1719","25"],["1720","93"],["1721","24"],["1722","82"],["1723","21"],["1724","48"],["1725","36"],["1726","68"],["1727","80"],["1728","148"],["1729","84"],["1730","85"],["1731","71"],["1732","114"],["1733","35"],["1734","65"],["1735","44"],["1736","65"],["1737","80"],["1738","112"],["1739","48"],["1740","51"],["1741","33"],["1742","94"],["1743","85"],["1744","83"],["1745","88"],["1746","28"],["1747","61"],["1748","106"],["1749","90"],["1750","72"],["1751","191"],["1752","128"],["1753","134"],["1754","143"],["1755","168"],["1756","75"],["1757","119"],["1758","216"],["1759","135"],["1760","117"],["1761","95"],["1762","77"],["1763","149"],["1764","238"],["1765","134"],["1766","208"],["1767","134"],["1768","250"],["1769","85"],["1770","179"],["1771","138"],["1772","190"],["1773","138"],["1774","182"],["1775","192"],["1776","226"],["1777","233"],["1778","161"],["1779","182"],["1780","151"],["1781","166"],["1782","211"],["1783","222"],["1784","205"],["1785","212"],["1786","263"],["1787","391"],["1788","611"],["1789","359"],["1790","345"],["1791","482"],["1792","520"],["1793","650"],["1794","390"],["1795","367"],["1796","448"],["1797","301"],["1798","402"],["1799","396"],["1800","504"],["1801","1133"],["1802","959"],["1803","1226"],["1804","1015"],["1805","1084"],["1806","880"],["1807","1029"],["1808","1124"],["1809","1525"],["1810","1274"],["1811","1415"],["1812","1306"],["1813","1248"],["1814","1309"],["1815","1250"],["1816","1149"],["1817","1491"],["1818","1944"],["1819","1500"],["1820","1712"],["1821","1246"],["1822","2295"],["1823","2070"],["1824","2734"],["1825","2480"],["1826","2460"],["1827","1965"],["1828","2505"],["1829","3191"],["1830","2637"],["1831","2194"],["1832","2590"],["1833","2808"],["1834","2497"],["1835","2742"],["1836","3043"],["1837","3342"],["1838","3187"],["1839","3431"],["1840","3590"],["1841","2793"],["1842","2592"],["1843","3663"],["1844","3060"],["1845","3161"],["1846","3354"],["1847","3910"],["1848","5655"],["1849","5262"],["1850","5194"],["1851","4725"],["1852","5358"],["1853","5475"],["1854","8014"],["1855","6338"],["1856","5535"],["1857","5335"],["1858","5864"],["1859","5153"],["1860","5430"],["1861","3374"],["1862","3144"],["1863","3827"],["1864","3480"],["1865","4513"],["1866","4716"],["1867","4309"],["1868","4542"],["1869","4227"],["1870","4802"],["1871","4961"],["1872","5286"],["1873","4984"],["1874","6721"],["1875","6167"],["1876","6135"],["1877","6273"],["1878","5287"],["1879","5627"],["1880","6553"],["1881","7910"],["1882","6737"],["1883","8001"],["1884","8616"],["1885","7383"],["1886","6386"],["1887","7316"],["1888","7537"],["1889","7352"],["1890","7925"],["1891","7673"],["1892","7761"],["1893","8642"],["1894","7951"],["1895","7934"],["1896","11276"],["1897","9311"],["1898","9042"],["1899","10247"],["1900","9906"],["1901","9996"],["1902","11688"],["1903","10694"],["1904","11294"],["1905","10041"],["1906","10824"],["1907","10948"],["1908","11512"],["1909","10689"],["1910","10054"],["1911","10388"],["1912","11213"],["1913","13078"],["1914","9838"],["1915","9894"],["1916","7948"],["1917","9116"],["1918","6984"],["1919","9337"],["1920","11646"],["1921","11597"],["1922","12543"],["1923","9352"],["1924","9339"],["1925","8749"],["1926","9041"],["1927","11128"],["1928","10421"],["1929","9643"],["1930","11355"],["1931","9927"],["1932","9028"],["1933","9450"],["1934","11357"],["1935","11573"],["1936","11263"],["1937","11114"],["1938","11124"],["1939","10732"],["1940","9983"],["1941","9495"],["1942","7331"],["1943","5836"],["1944","4417"],["1945","8433"],["1946","10064"],["1947","10873"],["1948","11444"],["1949","12635"],["1950","14132"],["1951","13364"],["1952","12718"],["1953","12698"],["1954","12259"],["1955","14079"],["1956","14081"],["1957","15855"],["1958","14686"],["1959","18297"],["1960","18898"],["1961","20436"],["1962","24005"],["1963","25231"],["1964","23685"],["1965","27168"],["1966","28887"],["1967","27655"],["1968","32310"],["1969","30103"],["1970","29756"],["1971","30690"],["1972","32072"],["1973","31572"],["1974","28417"],["1975","31810"],["1976","30132"],["1977","33335"],["1978","32402"],["1979","31340"],["1980","32480"],["1981","32514"],["1982","35266"],["1983","35232"],["1984","35130"],["1985","37087"],["1986","38806"],["1987","38867"],["1988","40023"],["1989","41958"],["1990","46448"],["1991","43287"],["1992","46615"],["1993","49713"],["1994","50640"],["1995","50910"],["1996","53956"],["1997","52460"],["1998","58538"],["1999","62613"],["2000","68006"],["2001","65838"],["2002","70225"],["2003","79032"],["2004","80287"],["2005","78212"],["2006","89734"],["2007","89700"],["2008","111985"]]
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of speculative in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of speculative in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of speculative in a Sentence
The central bank has handled the speculative attacks adeptly.
We do expect bitcoin to hit $ 100,000 in the future -- but not this year, as we expect volatility to continue into early 2022, bitcoin is still an emerging asset class subject to very high volatility and investors should approach it with caution. Care should be taken and any investment should be considered speculative.
We had a real capitulation in markets this morning and there was no obvious catalyst, we then had some bargain hunters coming in later in the day, but the moves have been driven by more speculative hedge funds.
All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions: 1. What can I know? 2. What ought I to do? 3. What may I hope?
For now, linking a rise in malignant brain tumors to mobile phone usage remains speculative and should not detract from encouraging lifestyle changes which are known to reduce cancer risk, such as adopting a healthy diet, reducing alcohol consumption and stopping smoking.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for speculative
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for speculative »
Translation
Find a translation for the speculative definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"speculative." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/speculative>.
Discuss these speculative definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In