A Word to the Wise
prognosticate (verb)
To prognosticate (prahg-NAH-stih-kate) is to predict something about the future based on present indications or signs. As I used it today: “Thousands of small and medium businesses, employing millions of medium- and low-skill workers, have been shut down. The economists I trust are prognosticating that as many as half of them are closed for good.”