construed

American  

[kuhn-strood] / kənˈstrud /

adjective

1. interpreted or understood.

   Degrees from these “diploma mills” are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience.

2. arrived at by inference or interpretation.

   Public interest must necessarily overlap with a correctly construed definition of “national interest.”

3. arranged or combined syntactically.

   Her soothing tones and delicate, thoughtfully construed statements only burrowed further and more painfully into his heart.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of construe.

Other Word Forms

• unconstrued adjective

Etymology

Origin of construed

construe ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Dabaie was asked by CNN whether the congressman’s comments can be construed as acknowledging that he cheated on his wife, while denying doing anything illegal.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

We believed the Constitution limited the federal government to the powers enumerated in it, and that these weren’t to be construed so as to deny our constitutional rights.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 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

"It could be construed as the early gathering of intelligence for subsequent operations, or just a warning of such," he added.

From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025

He waits for her to begin, his expression bearing something that could be construed as very mild interest.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Related Words

• define
• infer
• interpret
• parse
• translate