construed
Americanadjective
-
interpreted or understood.
Degrees from these “diploma mills” are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience.
-
arrived at by inference or interpretation.
Public interest must necessarily overlap with a correctly construed definition of “national interest.”
-
arranged or combined syntactically.
Her soothing tones and delicate, thoughtfully construed statements only burrowed further and more painfully into his heart.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of construed
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.
California law says its voter-ID rules “shall be liberally construed to permit voters and new registrants to cast a regular ballot.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 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
It was called “constructive treason,” because there was no act, but courts construed such forms of speech to be treasonous.
From Slate • Nov. 21, 2025
Unless, that is, “the economy” is construed in a broader sense— as a means to build and maintain hundreds of prisons.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
