construe
Americanverb (used with object)
-
construes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
construed,
past participle, past
-
construing
present participle
-
to deduce by inference or interpretation; infer.
He construed her intentions from her gestures.
-
to translate, especially orally.
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to analyze the syntax of; to rehearse the applicable grammatical rules of.
to construe a sentence.
-
to arrange or combine (words, phrases, etc.) syntactically.
verb (used without object)
-
construes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
construed,
past participle, past
-
construing
present participle
noun
-
the act of construing.
-
something that is construed.
verb
-
to interpret the meaning of (something)
you can construe that in different ways
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(may take a clause as object) to discover by inference; deduce
-
to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation)
-
to combine (words) syntactically
-
old-fashioned (also intr) to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
construesimple
-
construessimple
-
have construedperfect
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has construedperfect
-
am construingprogressive
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are construingprogressive
-
is construingprogressive
-
have been construingperfect progressive
-
has been construingperfect progressive
Past
-
construedsimple
-
had construedperfect
-
was construingprogressive
-
were construingprogressive
-
had been construingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of construe
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English construen, from Latin construere “to put together, build,” equivalent to con- con- + struere “to pile up, arrange,” perhaps akin to sternere “to spread, scatter”; see strew, stratum
Explanation
If you interpret something or make sense of it, you construe its meaning. If the new girl in your class asks to sit with you at lunch, you could construe that she wants to be friends. You can never have too many friends! To make an assumption based on evidence is to construe. You could construe that eating an entire box of cookies might make you feel a bit sick. And you might not want to eat them again for a very long time. The opposite of construe is misconstrue, which means to falsely or wrongly interpret. If you get a poor grade on an essay, you shouldn't construe that your teacher dislikes you. If you do, you misconstrue your work for his feelings.
Vocabulary lists containing construe
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The Bill of Rights
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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:
Attempting to construe the uncivilized and norms-busting battle that Democrats found themselves in, Garcia likened the politics of Trump's second term to a "bar fight."
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025
Circuit Court of Appeals, which he said could construe the law differently, or file a fresh lawsuit in state court.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
“And if there’s an ambiguity, why would we construe it … against democracy?”
From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2024
"A second cut would display their fears more openly and indicates greater weakness; we construe a second cut as a bearish signal unless the cuts are extremely substantive."
From Reuters ● May 31, 2023
"He is the King's Justice, after all. Sending other men to do his office . . . some might construe that as a grave insult."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
How they decide — their reasoning — might have momentous implications for how the current court construes the Constitution.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 29, 2021
“What emerges on the other side of the apocalypse as ‘Appleseed’ construes it will barely resemble what went into it.
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2021
As in none of your business, which often construes to “she’s fine” or “doing well” or “good,” depending on who asked.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 4, 2019
Simon construes constitutional protection from government intrusion as controls against human listening in on phone calls or reading messages.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 2013
He construes her bashful silence into anger, and vows a sacred regard to her injunctions.
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 3 by Samuel Richardson
Cliches were wielded like shields Tuesday, protecting against the imminent threat of social clips construed as bulletin board material.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Uganda's military chief, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said the withdrawal had been made so as "not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III".
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Tesla shares rose 5.4% to $376.37 after the electric-car maker scheduled an event related to its Cybercab, which investors construed as the likely commercial launch of the long-awaited robotaxi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
As we have shown, courts long interpreted these life exceptions to protect physicians acting in good faith to preserve a patient’s life—and these actors construed “life” generously and with deference to physicians’ professional judgment.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
“Oh. Good. Because I worry about that with Annie. That she’ll say something that could be construed as traitorous without knowing it,” says Finnick.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Congress, through explicit statutory text, and the Supreme Court, in construing less explicit language, have turned to the “disparate impact” framework to address that second truth.
From Slate ● May 4, 2025
In construing the meaning of an extraterrestrial dispatch, those who give it a go often try to anticipate what the message might be trying to say.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 3, 2023
"That is consistent with construing the speech and debate argument as a limited immunity like executive privilege. It also corresponds to the most important evidence from Pence," he tweeted.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2023
“If you want to explain the different outcomes in people, it may be differences in how people are construing their experiences.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 1, 2021
He translated fully to each group of creatures the Abbot’s message, in turn construing back to the Father Abbot their grateful thanks with pledges of help and loyalty to Redwall Abbey.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
