Standard Lemma guide

theorize

verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈθɪə.ɹaɪz/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈθiː.ə.ɹaɪz/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈθɪɹ.aɪz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈθɪɹ.aɪz/
  • General-American: /ˈθi.ə.ɹaɪz/
  • General-Australian: /ˈθɪə.ɹɑɪz/
  • General-Australian: /ˈθiː.ə.ɹɑɪz/
  • General-Australian: /ˈθɪɹ.ɑɪz/
  • CMU ARPABET: TH IY1 ER0 AY2 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To formulate a theory, especially about some specific subject.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To speculate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

form or construct theories

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he thinks and theorizes all day

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: reason

4

verb

Meaning 4

construct a theory about

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Galileo theorized the motion of the stars

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: reason

5

verb

Meaning 5

to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: speculate, theorise, conjecture, hypothesize, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: expect, anticipate

Narrower terms: reconstruct, construct, retrace, explicate, formulate, develop

History

Etymology

From theory + -ize. First use appears c. 1599 in the text A pil to purge melancholie.

Across languages

Translations

23 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: teoritzar — formulate theories
  • Danish: teoretisere — formulate theories
  • Esperanto: teorii — formulate theories
  • Finnish: teorioida — formulate theories
  • Finnish: teoretisoida — formulate theories
  • French: théoriser — formulate theories
  • Galician: teorizar — formulate theories
  • Ancient Greek: θεωρέω (theōréō) — formulate theories
  • Hungarian: elméletbe foglal — formulate theories
  • Ido: teoriifar — formulate theories
  • Ido: spekular — formulate theories
  • Italian: teorizzare — formulate theories
  • Kazakh: теория жасау (teoriä jasau) — formulate theories
  • Kazakh: теория тұрғысынан тексеру (teoriä tūrğysynan tekseru) — formulate theories
  • Kazakh: теорияландыру (teoriälandyru) — formulate theories
  • Marathi: सिद्धांत मांडणे (siddhānta māṇḍṇe) — formulate theories
  • Marathi: उपपत्ती लावणे (upapattī lāvṇe) — formulate theories
  • Portuguese: teorizar — formulate theories
  • Russian: теоретизировать (teoretizirovatʹ) — formulate theories
  • Spanish: teorizar — formulate theories
  • Swedish: teoretisera — formulate theories
  • Welsh: damcaniaethu — formulate theories
  • Welsh: damcanu — formulate theories