implicate
Americanverb (used with object)
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implicates,
present (3rd person singular)
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implicated,
past participle, past
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implicating
present participle
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to show to be also involved, usually in an incriminating manner.
to be implicated in a crime.
-
to imply as a necessary circumstance, or as something to be inferred or understood.
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to connect or relate to intimately; affect as a consequence.
The malfunctioning of one part of the nervous system implicates another part.
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Archaic. to fold or twist together; intertwine; interlace.
verb
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to show to be involved, esp in a crime
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to involve as a necessary inference; imply
his protest implicated censure by the authorities
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to affect intimately
this news implicates my decision
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rare to intertwine or entangle
Synonym Usage
See involve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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implicatesimple
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implicatessimple
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have implicatedperfect
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has implicatedperfect
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am implicatingprogressive
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are implicatingprogressive
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is implicatingprogressive
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have been implicatingperfect progressive
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has been implicatingperfect progressive
Past
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implicatedsimple
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had implicatedperfect
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was implicatingprogressive
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were implicatingprogressive
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had been implicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of implicate
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin implicātus, past participle of implicāre “to interweave,” equivalent to im- im- 1 + plicā(re) “to fold” + -ātus -ate 1; see ply 2
Explanation
The verb implicate means "to connect or involve in something." For example, your cousins might implicate you in the planning of a big party for your grandparents. Implicate comes from the Latin word implicare, meaning "to entwine, involve." When you implicate someone, you bring him or her into a group or to pitch in on a project. Implicate can have criminal connotations when it means "to connect in an incriminating manner," like when detectives figure out who drove the getaway car in the bank robbery — that person will be implicated for his or her role in the crime.
Vocabulary lists containing implicate
Just Mercy
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Monster
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Wasn't Me: The Lingo of Laying Blame
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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.
See Examples For:
“For the first time in this litigation, the government argues that civil detention ‘does not implicate any fundamental rights’ and so the Due Process Clause affords the detained men no protections—substantive or procedural,” they wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
However, he first tried to get Matthew Chaskalson, the lawyer responsible for presenting evidence to the commission, removed for perceived bias, saying he was trying to get him to implicate another witness.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
“From what I know of my dad, there’s no train of logic to follow that would implicate him in this potential federal investigation,” she told CNN.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
Colorado argued that its statute does not meaningfully implicate the First Amendment because it regulates conduct and only incidentally burdens speech.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026
White would need to tie up these loose ends, but at last a witness had emerged who could directly implicate Hale in the plot.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Prosecuting newsmen is a delicate proposition because it implicates a constitutional right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
Crucially, it further implicates the outstanding suspects and opens up evidential opportunities.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2024
China rejected the accusation, and experts say that Palau has not presented any evidence that implicates Beijing.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2024
“Some judicial oversight is therefore needed, at least when a visa refusal implicates the fundamental interests of Americans,” they wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
Booth also has left behind clues—among them a business card bearing the name J. Harrison Surratt and a letter from Samuel Arnold, who had been part of the kidnapping plot, that implicates Michael O’Laughlen.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
This brain structure has been historically implicated in emotional regulation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
A cyclospora outbreak has depressed U.S. produce sales and forced some farmers to destroy crops, though domestic crops haven't been implicated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The CJP has set up a legal fund to help meet the expenses of protesters implicated in criminal cases by the police, Saurav Das, another spokesperson for the youth-led movement, said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
The regulatory agency continues to work with Taylor Farms to ensure “product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market,” the regulatory agency stated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
I let the comment pass; thus became implicated in the strange reform movement that followed.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
She created confessions about herself to try to avoid torture, based on spy plots and her captors' "quite insane worldview", while not implicating any Iraqis.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
Mr. Fatafteh confessed to the crime and his DNA was found as implicating evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025
Such a result could have an unraveling effect of potentially implicating many of OpenAI’s relationships and contracts with business partners, including Microsoft, which is one of its backers, experts said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025
Syed, whose conviction was vacated in 2022 after evidence implicating two other suspects was found to have been improperly withheld, had that vacancy overturned in March of last year by the state’s appellate court.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2024
After implicating Joe, McCants was sentenced as an adult to four-and-one-half years and served just six months.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
