Archaeologists speculate that the ancient harbor was abandoned after a series of severe storms altered the coastline.
考古学家推测，这座古代港口在一系列严重风暴改变了海岸线后被废弃。
A museum catalog entry describes a 17th-century painting's brushwork in exhaustive technical detail before shifting, in its final paragraph, to speculate about the emotional state of the artist at the time of composition.
From a Text Structure and Purpose question · Craft and Structure
Which choice best defines “speculate”?
C — To conjecture; to invest riskily.. “speculate” means To conjecture; to invest riskily..
Which word means “To conjecture; to invest riskily.”?
B — speculate. “speculate” means To conjecture; to invest riskily..
speculate — To conjecture; to invest riskily.. In Chinese: 推测；投机.
speculate is pronounced //ˈspɛkjuleɪt//.
Archaeologists speculate that the ancient harbor was abandoned after a series of severe storms altered the coastline. (考古学家推测，这座古代港口在一系列严重风暴改变了海岸线后被废弃。)
conjecture, surmise, guess — all close in meaning to speculate (To conjecture; to invest riskily.).
know, verify — each the opposite of speculate (To conjecture; to invest riskily.).
Yes. speculate is on the SAT Prep Easy list — mid-frequency academic words that do get tested. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.
spec(看) → 猜想/冒险投资。