construed
Americanadjective
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interpreted or understood.
Degrees from these “diploma mills” are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience.
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arrived at by inference or interpretation.
Public interest must necessarily overlap with a correctly construed definition of “national interest.”
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arranged or combined syntactically.
Her soothing tones and delicate, thoughtfully construed statements only burrowed further and more painfully into his heart.
verb
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Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of construed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the BBC saw no behaviour and heard no language that could be construed as offensive.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
Some of these situational advantages could be construed as luck.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
"To the uninformed American listener, the ongoing talks between Denmark and Greenland might have been construed as if Greenland's secession from Denmark was imminent," said Greenland specialist Mikaela Engell.
From Barron's • Jan. 13, 2026
“If you read it, I’m not sure how it could be construed as a threat. … I’d like to see journalists held at a higher standard.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2025
“In the morning you will need to be at your very best. It is vital that you make a good impression. Your drowsiness might well be construed as laziness.”
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
