to jump to conclusions
- phrasal verb
- Informal
- After explaining the story, Norma scolded the children for jumping to conclusions without learning the facts.
- avoid jumping to conclusions
- rather than jumping to conclusions
- jump to quick conclusions
So the first thing is do not jump to conclusions, all right?
- So the first thing is do not jump to conclusions, all right?
- OK, Now, again, don't jump to negative conclusions.
- You know, don't jump to conclusions about the evidence that you have in front of you.
- And that is do not jump to negative conclusions.
- And I made the mistake of jumping to conclusions.
- But you do realize that anytime someone see you with someone publicly, they automatically jump to the conclusion.
- They tend to jump to conclusions and they haven't had the experience of changing their minds when they're wrong because they haven't been wrong that often.
- Not that it's normal, so don't fucking jump to conclusions here, but you have to have a lot of money.
Examples
-
I would wait for some word from the police before jumping to any conclusions.
Blog text (17) -
Jenny understood that historians must not jump to conclusions but must think carefully about the evidence.
Academic text (1997) -
So the first thing is do not jump to conclusions, all right?
-
I knew that you would jump to conclusions.
-
It's possible, but let's not jump to conclusions.
-
Let's not jump to conclusions.
-
My late husband, Richard, always cautioned me not to jump to conclusions.
Fiction book (1994) -
Don't jump to conclusions!
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Sam had tried even then to dissuade her from jumping to conclusions, to convince her to move slowly and cautiously.
Fiction book (2002) -
It's important not to jump to conclusions about someone's actions without understanding their situation.
Synonyms
To form an opinion or estimate without enough information
To think about possible reasons or outcomes when there are not enough facts
To form an opinion about a person or situation before you know all the facts
To form an opinion without enough proof
Antonyms
How Hasty
Surface Forms
Morphology
jump + to + conclusion
The verb 'jump' conveys abrupt movement and 'conclusion' denotes a judgment, so the phrase uses a straightforward motion metaphor for arriving at a judgment quickly. This mapping is somewhat predictable and exists in many languages, but it is metaphorical rather than strictly compositional, so learners may infer the general idea but might miss the nuance of acting without sufficient evidence.
Etymology
The idiom jump to conclusions may come from the image of someone literally jumping over the middle steps and landing straight on the last idea, the conclusion. So, it means 'to make a quick judgment without all the facts'.