From Middle English, borrowed from Old French speculatif or directly from Late Latin speculativus, from Latin speculor.

• IPA: /ˈspɛkjuləˌtɪv/

speculative

1. Characterized by speculation; based on guessing, unfounded opinions, or extrapolation.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC ↗:

     "Don't dare laugh at us!" smiled his sister. "I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came […] and the Tenth Street house wasn't half big enough; and a dreadful speculative builder built this house and persuaded Austin to buy it. Oh, dear, and here we are among the rich and great; and the steel kings and copper kings and oil kings and their heirs and dauphins. Do you like the house?"

2. Pursued as a gamble, with possible large profits or losses; risky.
3. Pertaining to financial speculation; Involving or resulting from high-risk investments or trade.

• speculate
• speculation
• speculativity

• French: spéculatif
• German: spekulativ
• Italian: speculativo
• Russian: умозри́тельный
• Spanish: especulativo