Guess

A guess is to form an opinion or conclusion about something without complete information. As a verb, to guess means to make such an estimation; as a noun, a guess is the result of that act. Guessing typically involves uncertainty, and the probability of being correct is often unknown or low without additional data.

Guesses vary in confidence. An educated guess uses relevant prior knowledge or partial data to choose among options, while a wild guess offers little basis. In statistics, a guess can be treated as a point estimate or hypothesis in the absence of full information, and its quality can be assessed by likelihood under a model.

In games and puzzles, guessing is a common mechanic, such as guessing a number, a word, or an answer from clues. Some formats are designed to maximize information gained from guesses, while others rely on chance.

In science and everyday reasoning, guesswork is typically reduced through data collection, observation, experiments, and formal methods like hypothesis testing, estimation, and modeling. Yet guessing remains practical when data are incomplete, time is limited, or rapid judgments are required.

See also: hypothesis, conjecture, estimate, speculation, inference.