opinion

An opinion is a belief or attitude about something that isn't necessarily based on facts. It's your opinion that dogs make better pets than cats, but your sister thinks that cats are superior. Too bad your parents' opinion is that pets are too expensive.

You may have an opinion about a celebrity that I don't share. There's no way to prove who's right and who's wrong. Those are our thoughts about her, and that's the way it is. Ironically, when a judge decides a case, his or her ruling is referred to as an opinion. Even though what the judge says will become a matter of law, it's still just their opinion, based on what was presented by the two sides in a trial.

Definitions of opinion
1

n a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty

“my opinion differs from yours”
Synonyms:
persuasion, reckoning, sentiment, thought, view
Types:
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idea
a personal view
judgement, judgment, mind
an opinion formed by judging something
eyes
opinion or judgment
parti pris, preconceived idea, preconceived notion, preconceived opinion, preconception, prepossession
an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence
pole
one of two divergent or mutually exclusive opinions
political sympathies, politics
the opinion you hold with respect to political questions
conclusion, decision, determination
a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration
Type of:
belief
any cognitive content held as true

n a belief or sentiment shared by most people; the voice of the people

“he asked for a poll of public opinion”
Synonyms:
popular opinion, public opinion, vox populi
Type of:
belief
any cognitive content held as true

n a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

Synonyms:
belief, feeling, impression, notion
Types:
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presence
the impression that something is present
effect
an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived)
first blush
at the first glimpse or impression
hunch, intuition, suspicion
an impression that something might be the case
sound effect
an effect that imitates a sound called for in the script of a play
special effect
an effect used to produce scenes that cannot be achieved by normal techniques (especially on film)
bosom, heart
the locus of feelings and intuitions
Type of:
idea, thought
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about

n a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof

“his opinions appeared frequently on the editorial page”
Synonyms:
view
Types:
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adverse opinion
an opinion concerning financial statements (usually based on an audit by a CPA) that the statements as a whole do not present results fairly or are not in conformity with the generally accepted accounting practices of the United States
conjecture, guess, hypothesis, speculation, supposition, surmisal, surmise
a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
position, side
an opinion that is held in opposition to another in an argument or dispute
divination
successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck
Type of:
content, message, subject matter, substance
what a communication that is about something is about

n the legal document stating the reasons for a judicial decision

“opinions are usually written by a single judge”
Synonyms:
judgement, judgment, legal opinion
Types:
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concurring opinion
an opinion that agrees with the court's disposition of the case but is written to express a particular judge's reasoning
dissenting opinion
an opinion that disagrees with the court's disposition of the case
majority opinion
the opinion joined by a majority of the court (generally known simply as `the opinion')
fatwah
(Islam) a legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar
dictum, obiter dictum
an opinion voiced by a judge on a point of law not directly bearing on the case in question and therefore not binding
Type of:
instrument, legal document, legal instrument, official document
(law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right

n the reason for a court's judgment (as opposed to the decision itself)

Synonyms:
ruling
Examples:
Bakke decision
a ruling by the Supreme Court on affirmative action; the Court ruled in 1978 that medical schools are entitled to consider race as a factor in their admission policy
Types:
fatwa
a ruling on a point of Islamic law that is given by a recognized authority
Type of:
judgement, judgment, judicial decision
(law) the determination by a court of competent jurisdiction on matters submitted to it

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