Words / B2

HUNCH/hʌntʃ/

A hunch is a feeling that something is true, with little evidence; as a verb, to lean forward with the shoulders raised: a hunch that; hunch over the desk. Instinct and intuition are close twins; a hypothesis still needs a test. A hunch is not a sampling frame; still run the test. Mix-up: hunch vs haunch; lunch. Do not write hunch as the whole conclusion in a methods write-up.

Meaning

A feeling that something is true, with little evidence; as a verb, to lean forward with the shoulders raised.

Examples

• “A hunch is not a sampling frame; still run the test, the methods brief said.”
• “He hunched over the micrograph, which is the stoop-forward sense.”

Good to know

a hunch that / about; on a hunch; hunch over. Close: instinct / intuition. Stronger: hypothesis. Trap: lunch / haunch. Methods, news, and literature. An instinct with little evidence, or to stoop — specify.

Near in meaning

instinct, intuition, feeling

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