imply
Americanverb
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to express or indicate by a hint; suggest
what are you implying by that remark?
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to suggest or involve as a necessary consequence
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logic to enable (a conclusion) to be inferred
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obsolete to entangle or enfold
Usage
See infer.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of imply
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English implien, emplien, from Middle French emplier, from Latin implicāre; see implicate
Explanation
Imply means to express, suggest, or show something without stating it directly: A friend’s gruff manner would imply that she’s in a foul mood. The verb imply comes from a Latin word meaning “enfold or entangle” but has come to mean “to hint at.” You might imply something that you don’t want to outright say if you’re feeling coy. If you don’t call someone back after she leaves eight messages, you imply that you don’t want to chat. When you make a subtle suggestion, you imply.
Vocabulary lists containing imply
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Words That Could Go Either Way: Synonyms for "Maybe"
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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.
Imply that their only goal is to add members.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2022
"Imply, madam; why, that he don't like the cut of her jib!"
From Newton Forster by Marryat, Frederick
Supposing he did—which at most you see is a suspicion—grounded on a suspicion—it would at least Imply, that he had found a good opportunity.
From The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford — Volume 4 by Walpole, Horace
Imply that we poured the public money into this county in bucketsful and that we are bound to do it again.
From Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Leacock, Stephen
Imply that I would deny the truth, were there never a witness, and Heaven help you, Plymouth or no Plymouth, brother or no brother!
From A Pilgrim Maid A Story of Plymouth Colony in 1620 by Taggart, Marion Ames
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.
