conjecture

An idea about what may be true, based on limited evidence and not yet proved.

Conjecture is often used when people draw a possible explanation from clues but cannot yet confirm it. It can also mean a guess made with little evidence; in mathematics, it can refer to a statement believed to be true but not yet proved.

• For now, the idea that the signal came from living organisms is only conjecture.
• Without a clear signal, any claim about life on that planet remains conjecture.
• The team treated the pattern as a clue, not proof, and called its explanation a conjecture.