guesstimate
guesstimate Lexical Profile
guesstimate Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An informal estimate made without complete or adequate information, combining a rough calculation with guesswork.
"Without the final expense reports from the regional offices, the accountant could only offer a rough guesstimate of the quarterly budget."
• verb
To form an approximate judgment or calculation of a quantity, cost, or size by combining partial reasoning with guesswork.
"The event organizers guesstimated that nearly five hundred people attended the community festival over the weekend."
Word Nuance & Usage
Although widely accepted in everyday conversation and informal business contexts, 'guesstimate' (and its alternate spelling 'guestimate') is typically avoided in formal academic or legal writing in favor of 'rough estimate' or 'approximation'.
• Rhymes for guesstimate
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the United States in the 1930s by statisticians as a humorous portmanteau blending the words 'guess' and 'estimate'.