Extrapolate: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Extrapolate verb. To estimate something unknown by extending a known trend or pattern beyond the facts.
How to say it
ik-STRAP-uh-layt/ɪkˈstrapəleɪt/
4 syllables, stressed on the second (STRAP).
Extrapolate in a sentence
Don’t extrapolate from one rainy holiday that the whole country is grey.
If you extrapolate this year’s growth, the town doubles in size by 2040.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- project
- infer
- extend
Where extrapolate comes from
Formed from extra-, outside, on the model of interpolate.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
If you _____ this year’s growth, the town doubles in size by 2040.
- confound
- extrapolate
- replicate
Show the answer
extrapolate: If you extrapolate this year’s growth, the town doubles in size by 2040.