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We are not opining—that is, expressing our opinion—when we say that opine is not a back-formation of opinion, though the two words do share a common ancestry. A back-formation is a word formed by the subtraction of part of an existing word; for instance, the verb bartend is a back-formation of the noun bartender. Opine and opinion, however, both entered English independently, taking different routes from their mutual roots in the Latin verb opīnārī, meaning “to have in mind” or “to think.” Opinion arrived in the 14th century, while opine followed about a century later.
Synonyms
Examples of opine in a Sentence
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2025
The childhood friend opined that Sean’s alleged reprehensible actions could also be linked to his youth.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 14 Jan. 2025
The possibility of college football completely breaking away from the NCAA has been debated and opined about in the era of name, image and likeness and conference realignment.
—Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 29 Dec. 2024
The New York Post also opined that Meghan’s return to Instagram could be her way of seizing back control of the narrative around her public image.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 2 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for opine 
Dictionary Entries Near opine
Cite this Entry
“Opine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opine. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
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