Did you know?
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.
Examples of opine in a Sentence
Brittany Ghiroli,
New York Times,
1 July 2026
During last fall’s budget fiasco in City Hall, Quigley opined on the city’s fiscal trajectory by standing with the aldermanic opposition to cheer on potential efficiencies outlined in the Ernst & Young report.
—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2026
There will be a temptation here to opine about whether May’s decision to jilt the Wolverines after a two-year stopover is yet another sign of college athletics gone to pot, to deflect the chaos May has created and turn him into another victim of a bad system.
—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
22 June 2026
Later asked by Deadline how traditional entertainment companies could court the likes of Markiplier and Kane Parsons, Tewes opined that attempting a top-down approach with digital and YouTube creators would have the opposite effect and the correct path would be to offer distribution to their films.
—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for opine
Cite this Entry
“Opine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opine. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy Citation
