Words in the News - hunch

hunch

Intuitive cognition.
Synonym: feeling, idea, impression, intuition, suspicion

Examples from wsj.com:
"I am not so sure, and I certainly wouldn't ask my clients to do anything based on a hunch."
"Most scientists' hunch is that there are independently evolved life forms dotted around planetary islands throughout the universe—though sadly too thinly scattered to encounter one another."