How to use presume in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb
Presume means to be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission [with to (+ infinitive)]. Example: “I don't want to pretend to be an authority on this line of business, so I would never presume to tell you how to run your own company.”
Examples of presume by meaning
verbTo be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission [with to (+ infinitive)].
- I don't want to pretend to be an authority on this line of business, so I would never presume to tell you how to run your own company.
- The men there decided they would like lesbians to join; they would not presume to formulate aims for them but would adjust the organization if and when women joined it.1982 August 21, Sylvia Barren, “Women and the IGA: A History of Struggle”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 6, page 3
verbTo perform, do (something) without authority; to lay claim to without permission.
- Don't make the decision yourself and presume too much.
verbTo assume or suggest to be true (without proof); to take for granted, to suppose.
- Paw-prints in the snow allow us to presume a visit from next door's cat.
- Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
verbTo take as a premise; to assume for the sake of argument.
- If we presume that human cloning may one day become a mundane, everyday reality, then maybe it's time to start thinking more positively about our soon-to-arrive genetically engineered pseudo-siblings.2011 February 5, John Patterson, The Guardian
verbTo impose (on) for one's advantage; to be presumptuous; to take advantage (of); to take liberties (with) [with on or...
- Thanks, but I can't accept the money; I would not want to presume on the generosity of a stranger'
- He said we had presumed on his hospitality and the good name of the regent.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 75
More sentences with presume
- Abraham, alias Ibrahim, is the presumed progenitor of both the Jewish and Arab peoples.From the entry progenitor
- This just in: the presumed murderer of the young woman has been apprehended in a forest near the city.From the entry this just in
- "I get super clocky," says Blossom, meaning that others may presume she is trans, not cis.2021 June 30, Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard, “How Going on Estrogen Changed My Skin”, in Allure. From the entry clocky
- The soft and bony tissues underlying the borders were markedly damaged by presumed explosive injuries.2016 March, Amanda M McLemore et al., “Suicide by Bomb, with Decapitation”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name). From the entry rare
- Due to its presumed irresectability the site was marked with metallic clips for later irradiation.2015 July 3, Hayim Gilshtein et al., “Inferior vena cava enteric fistula due to unresected colorectal metastasis”, in World Journal of…. From the entry irresectability
- Human locomotion had been presumed unique because we walk upright with two legs.2011 November 17, Hans Villarica, “A Rat's First Steps: How Humans and Other Animals Learn to Walk”, in The Atlantic, archived from the…. From the entry upright
- My advice is to presume the Nike-clad cleaner innocent and take personal stuff home, especially minging sportswear.2011, Lucy Kellaway, The Answers: All the office questions you never dared to ask, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 82. From the entry minging
- Actually, even for that kind of urban myth, causation is presumed: pyrotrons, of course.2005, James H. Hall, Practically Profound, page XIX. From the entry pyrotron
- She bumped her noggin on the bulkhead above the doorway, smiled in apology for her presumed clumsiness.2003, John Farris, The Fury and the Power. From the entry bulkhead
- Because of postconception bleeding or menstrual irregularities, the presumed date of LMP may be in error.1995, National Center for Health Statistics, “Technical Appendix”, in Vital Statistics of the United States, 1992, volume 1, Washington…. From the entry LMP
- It irritated her that since the bedroom incident he presumed to tutoyer her.1988, Patrick Alexander, Ryfka, Arrow Books, Century Hutchinson Limited, published 1989, →ISBN, page 214. From the entry vousvoyer
- The classical view of layer-cake federalism presumed that each level of government specialized by function.1984, Donald F. Kettl, “The Maturing of American Federalism”, in Robert T. Golembiewski, Aaron Wildavsky, editors, The Costs of…. From the entry layer-cake federalism
- Bone of a presumed Odontopterygian bird from the Miocene of New Zealand.1972, RJ Scarlett, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, article title. From the entry odontopterygian
- Among the various fractions isolated was one presumed to contain only desoxyribosenucleic acid (DNA).1948 March–April, Martin D[avid] Kamen, “Detection of Intermediates, Criteria of Purity”, in Louis H. Roddis, editor, Supplement to the…. From the entry dna
- It should be presumed that Russia will not lightly surrender this favorable position.1946 August, Conrad H. Lanza, “Perimeters in Paragraphs”, in The Field Artillery Journal, volume 36, number 8, page 480, column 3. From the entry strategical
- Some of our men, I presume, will be put hors de combat.1905 January 12, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], The Scarlet Pimpernel, popular edition, London: Greening & Co., published 20 March…. From the entry hors de combat
- By now I presumed I had become a real pester.2017, Samuel J. Archer, Will There Be Another Lincoln, Nixon, Johnson or Kennedy?, page 15. From the entry pester
- At least, they revise their beliefs and presume that the probability of the predator being a low-cost firm is very high.2016, Sumit Sarkar, “Business Poker: Playing Games with Limited Information”, in Out-think!: How to Use Game Theory to Outsmart Your…. From the entry bluff out
- To be selfist, one must presume divergence of interest.2015, John P. Powelson, The Institutions of Economic Growth, page 149. From the entry selfist
- Because of the similar pharmacokinetic profiles, we presume that the effects of generic mirtazapines are similar to those of branded mirtazapine.2015 August 31, Hoo Rim Song et al., “Efficacy and Tolerability of Generic Mirtazapine (Mirtax) for Major Depressive Disorder…. From the entry mirtazapines
- “If people see a dude making out with a dude, everyone presumes to know he’s gay,” Cienfuegos explained.2014 February 14, Andrew Koenig, “A Queer Reputation”, in Yale Daily News, Yale University, page B3. From the entry bi-erasure
- But judgment presumes relative size constancy for postulated objects, and attributes radical size differences to distance, directly, without inference.2013, Laura E. Wood, The Structure of Thinking: A Process-Oriented Account of Mind, UK: Imprint Academic Publications, page 129. From the entry leprechaunesque
- The thing I like most about the Total Recall remake is the—I have to presume ironic—name of its production company.2012 August 24, John Patterson, “Total Recall—a remake to forget”, in The Guardian. From the entry remake
- 'Timothy,' pronounced the gargoyliest, 'Cavendish, I presume.2012, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas. From the entry cacks
- The other people, I presume, are supposed to be standing to attention, but they're all smiling at me.2011 March 22, Adharanand Finn, The Guardian. From the entry straight
- None of the others was to presume to enter or follow the king into the bedchamber or 'any other secret place'.2011, Christopher Gidlow, Life in a Tudor Palace (Sutton Life Series), New York, N.Y.: The History Press, →ISBN. From the entry groom of the stool
- Reid, who is devoted to the Senate, said it would be wrong to presume other recent departees were simply fed up.2009 February 5, Carl Hulse, “Despite Prestige, Senate’s Allure Seems to Fade”, in New York Times. From the entry departee
- We need to cultivate our own gardens, to “unweed” our own “seed-beds” before we presume to colonize the world.2008, Jeffrey M. Heath, The Creator as Critic and Other Writings by E.M. Forster, →ISBN, page 347. From the entry unweed
- We do not presume that our reconstruction will close the book on the evolutionary origins of great ape cognition.2007, Anne E. Russon, David R. Begun, The Evolution of Thought. From the entry close the book on
- We presume that they made at least brief ventures onto land because of their dactylous limbs and modified limb girdles.2001, Karel F. Liem, Warren Franklin Walker, Functional Anatomy of the Vertebrates, page 79. From the entry dactylous
- Both weapons are presumed to have submerged almost instantly.1986, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Energy and water…. From the entry jettisoning
- It can be presumed that no women would have thought of accepting election as vestryperson or council delegates at that period.1979 March, Lawrence L. Brown, “Texas Bishop Vetoes Women Council Delegates in 1921”, in Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal…. From the entry vestryperson
Meaning of presume
- verb To be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission [with to (+ infinitive)].
- verb To perform, do (something) without authority; to lay claim to without permission.
- verb To assume or suggest to be true (without proof); to take for granted, to suppose.
Questions about presume in a sentence
- How do you use presume in a sentence?
- Presume is used as a verb. For example: “I don't want to pretend to be an authority on this line of business, so I would never presume to tell you how to run your own company.”
- What is a short sentence with presume?
- “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
- What does presume mean?
- Presume means to be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission [with to (+ infinitive)].
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: presume (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use presume in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/presume. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
