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Which activity often requires inference?

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inference

American  

[in-fer-uhns, -fruhns] / ˈɪn fər əns, -frəns /

noun

• inferences
  plural

1. the act or process of inferring.

2. something that is inferred.

   to make rash inferences.

3. Logic.

   1. the process of deriving the strict logical consequences of assumed premises.

   2. the process of arriving at some conclusion that, though it is not logically derivable from the assumed premises, possesses some degree of probability relative to the premises.

   3. a proposition reached by a process of inference.

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inference British  

/ ˈɪnfərəns, -frəns /

noun

1. the act or process of inferring

2. an inferred conclusion, deduction, etc

3. any process of reasoning from premises to a conclusion

4. logic the specific mode of reasoning used See also deduction induction

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inference Cultural  

1. In logic, the deriving of one idea from another. Inference can proceed through either induction or deduction.

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inference Idioms  

1. see draw an inference.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misinference
  noun
• preinference
  noun
• superinference
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• inferences
  plural

Etymology

Origin of inference

From the Medieval Latin word inferentia, dating back to 1585–95. See infer, -ence

Explanation

An inference is an idea or conclusion that's drawn from evidence and reasoning. An inference is an educated guess. We learn about some things by experiencing them first-hand, but we gain other knowledge by inference — the process of inferring things based on what is already known. When you make an inference, you're reading between the lines or just looking carefully at the facts and coming to conclusions. You can also make faulty inferences. If you hear a person's weight is 250 pounds, you might make the inference that they're overweight. But what if they're seven feet tall?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

inference inferences

"So the inference that the Met didn't try on that case is just not true, the Met tried," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

This comes after rival OpenAI and Broadcom in June announced Jalapeño, a custom chip for model inference.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

On inference platforms, Chinese models’ share of tokens served rose from under 3% to over 70% in 14 months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

CPUs are essential for running inference workloads demanded by agentic AI, but there are various wild cards to consider.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

They showed me how to be precise in notation, acute in investigation, and rational in inference.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

In June, passenger demand fell 1.7% globally, or 0.6% excluding the Middle East, according to the International Air Transport Association, although Nastro said it’s difficult to draw inferences about U.S. trends from global data.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

They can analyze data and make predictive inferences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

“In sum,” Allen’s attorneys wrote, “the government’s entire argument about the nature and circumstances of the offense is based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

The commission said this was "a salient reminder to the commission not to jump to conclusions and the dangers of drawing adverse inferences from events unknown".

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2025

It refers to a situation that the writer is uncertain about, and it invites the reader to draw inferences or make predictions about that situation.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• assumption
• conjecture
• interpretation
• presumption
• reasoning
• supposition