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Glite Dictionary
to outguess

to outguess

1 6.7
To guess what someone will do before they do it
  • verb
  • /aʊtˈɡɛs/
translation icon : predecir
  • He then recites a list of his great accomplishments; his last argument—his tour de force—being that he outguessed a doctor on the due date of a baby.
  • try to outguess
  • outguess the market

Examples

  • Gulli looked left, lined up his shot, and outguessed the goalie with a shot to the upper right corner.

    Blog text (12)

  • Whatever he does, no matter how idiotic it may seem, nobody ever outguesses him for long.

    The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

  • If I can run as fast as he can run, I can outguess him.

    4D Man (1959)

  • We think we know it all and can outguess the good Lord, but the world and climate belong to the God of this Universe.

    Blog text (2)

  • They're sure not easy to outguess.

    Posse from Hell (1961)

  • I hate to admit it, but he's outguessed me.

    3 Godfathers (1948)

  • We might develop what some people who grew up in alcoholic homes call their "ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) radar," an intuitive scanner that will help us anticipate, outguess, and outmaneuver those who threaten us.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Good strategists can often outguess their opponents during negotiations.

  • She tried to outguess his next move in the game of chess.

  • It's difficult to outguess what children will think or say next.

Synonyms

to second-guess
vsto outguess
  • Informal
21 5.7

To try to predict what someone will do or think

anticipates another person's actions aiming to be correct rather than criticize
to previse
vsto outguess
  • Archaic
9.9

To know something before it happens

anticipates another person's actions first and often more accurately

Antonyms

to misjudge
6 3.9

To form a wrong idea about someone or something

How Accurate

to foretell
41 7.0
to outguess
1 6.7
to predict
812 3.0
to anticipate
293 3.7
guess
768 1.0

Surface Forms

outguess infinitive
outguessed past
outguessed past participle
outguessing present participle
outguesses third person singular

Morphology

outguess = guess (transparent) = out + guess

'Out-' is a productive English prefix meaning 'to do better than' or 'surpass' and combines straightforwardly with the verb 'guess' to mean predicting or anticipating better than someone else.

Etymology

Outguess is made of out ('more than' or 'beyond') and guess ('to try to predict'), like in outsmart. It means to predict what someone will do or think better than they can, so you get ahead of them.