Other forms: opined, opining, opines
To opine is to state an opinion. Opine that it would fail, he opined, freely opining.
It is nearly always faintly mocking now — writers use it to mark an opinion as unasked for or overconfident. Say think or argue if you mean it straight. Note opinion beside it, from the same Latin verb.
1verbopineTo state an opinion.
“Everyone at the dinner table opined loudly on politics.”
opine is a stating.
Latin opinari means to hold as an opinion. Opinion comes from the same verb.
Latin
opīnor — to hold as an opinion
Middle French
opiner
English, today
opine
Built from
Middle French opiner, from Latin opīnor (“to hold as an opinion”), from opīnus (“thinking, expecting”), only in negative necopinus (“not expecting”) and inopinus (“not expected”); akin to optō (“to choose, desire”), and to apīscor (“to obtain”); see optate and opt.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA