implicated

American  

[im-pli-key-tid] / ˈɪm plɪˌkeɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. shown to be also involved, especially in an incriminating manner.

   In the wake of last year’s doping scandal, the Cycling Federation states that this year’s team will have no connection to any of the implicated team members, either directly or indirectly.

2. implied as a necessary circumstance, or as something to be inferred or understood.

   My defensive post was answering an implicated accusation that clearly overstepped the boundaries of an opinion.

3. intimately connected or related, or affected as a result.

   The paper delves into the historical background of our modern understanding of time, as well as the implicated problem of infinity.

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• unimplicated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of implicated

implicate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Someone who is implicated in something is shown to be somehow involved in it. The word is often used in a negative sense, suggesting an involvement in something wrong, with the person being implicated by the facts of the case. The Latin word implicātus, which means "folded in," is the past participle of implicāre, meaning to interweave ideas or objects. In the 17th century, the word referred to a general entanglement in a complicated situation. By 1797, the definition had come to focus on the idea of criminal involvement, suggesting someone "folded in," or involved, in a crime or scandal. Today, the word implicated is not necessarily tied to crime, but it's generally negative.

Example Sentences

Becerra defended himself, pointing out that federal prosecutors never accused him of being involved and stated that none of the candidates for governor were implicated in scandal.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

"Peroxisomes are implicated in some human diseases and used in bioengineering," said Nathan Tharp, first author of the paper and a Rice graduate student.

From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026

Additionally, Montgomery once said that Carruthers was not involved in the triple murder and implicated someone else, a man named Ronnie Irving.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

"It won't stop me voting, but I am definitely not voting for anybody implicated by the Epstein files," he says.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

And either way, I didn’t want to be implicated.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

Related Words

• involved