speculative
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈspɛkjuləˌtɪv/
ipa: /ˈspɛkjələˌtɪv/
ipa: /ˈspɛkjəˌleɪtɪv/
Forms: form: more speculative
form: most speculative
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English speculatyf, borrowed from Old French speculatif or directly from Late Latin speculativus, from Latin speculor.
Senses: examples: text: Like The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper.
ref: 2013, P. L. Thomas, Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction: Challenging Genres, →ISBN, page 2:
text: When not inaccurate, much commentary on the contents of Hobson-Jobson is couched in hedges or relies on speculative estimates in the absence of exact information.
ref: 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 487:
glosses: Characterized by speculation; based on guessing, unfounded opinions, or extrapolation.
examples: text: Tranquillo Barnetta was the grateful beneficiary of uncertain England defending and poor goalkeeping from Joe Hart as he twice saw speculative free-kicks end in the back of the net in the first half.
ref: 2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2-2 Switzerland”, in BBC:
text: Little seemed on when Sánchez cut in from the left and sent a speculative low shot through a crowd of players, but though Federici had it covered he could not hold on to the ball and it squirmed over the line through his legs.
ref: 2015 April 18, Paul Wilson, The Guardian:
glosses: Pursued as a gamble, with possible large profits or losses; risky.
examples: text: "Don't dare laugh at us!" smiled his sister. "I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came[…]and the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins. Do you like the house?"
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
text: In other words, it is critical to know whether a currency is under high speculative pressure for every month in the sample.
ref: 2001, Zhiwei Zhang, Speculative Attacks in the Asian Crisis, →ISBN, page 4:
text: It was written between 1929 and 1930 and deals with a famine caused by speculative investments of the Meat King of Chicago, Pierpont Mauler.
ref: 2010, Sebastian Schneider, Investments of Speculative Capital in Staple Foods, →ISBN, page 13:
text: Empirical tests of speculative bubbles, including those assessing early warning indicators in the context of financial crises, are forced to contend with other difficult measurement and inference issues.
ref: 2014, Bradley Jones, Identifying Speculative Bubbles, →ISBN, page 9:
glosses: Pertaining to financial speculation; Involving or resulting from high-risk investments or trade.
Derived terms: speculative application
speculative damages
speculative erotica
speculative evolution
speculative fiction
speculative grammar
speculative grammarian
speculatively
Speculative Masonry
speculative materialism
speculativeness
speculative philosophy
speculative realism
Related terms: speculate
speculation
speculativity
conjectural