implied

[ im-plahyd ]

/ ɪmˈplaɪd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR implied ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

involved, indicated, or suggested without being directly or explicitly stated; tacitly understood: an implied rebuke; an implied compliment.

Nearby words

Origin of implied

First recorded in 1520–30; imply + -ed²

Related formsim·pli·ed·ly

[im-plahy-id-lee] /ɪmˈplaɪ ɪd li/, adverbun·im·plied, adjectivewell-im·plied, adjective

Can be confusedexplicit implicit implied

imply

[ im-plahy ]

/ ɪmˈplaɪ /

verb (used with object), im·plied, im·ply·ing.

to indicate or suggest without being explicitly stated: His words implied a lack of faith.

(of words) to signify or mean.

to involve as a necessary circumstance: Speech implies a speaker.

Obsolete. to enfold.

Origin of imply

1325–75; Middle English implien, emplien < Middle French emplier < Latin implicāre; see implicate

SYNONYMS FOR imply

3. assume, include.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR imply ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsre·im·ply, verb (used with object), re·im·plied, re·im·ply·ing.su·per·im·ply, verb (used with object), su·per·im·plied, su·per·im·ply·ing.

Can be confusedimply infer (see usage note at infer)

Usage note

See infer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for implied

“Call me when the plane leaves the ground,” she said, in a tone that implied she knew her husband well.
Mario Cuomo, a Frustrating Hero to Democrats, Is Dead at 82|Eleanor Clift|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In doing so, he implied the obsolescence of that most embedded of British watering holes, the pub.
Beer Countries vs. Wine Countries|Clive Irving|December 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was a duel on a larger scale, with all the uncertainty and danger that implied.
How Clausewitz Invented Modern War|James A. Warren|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will implied in an interview that Ebola may be airborne.
George Will, Fox News, and the Beginning of an Ebola Conspiracy|Russell Saunders|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But Francis has also implied that his hands are tied when it comes to changing doctrine or altering church teachings.
The Pope vs. the Church on Family Values?|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If you had said or implied she was a lady, she would have shrunk as from a covert reflection on the quality of her work.
The Flight of the Shadow|George MacDonald
In other words, the old era is ended; what is implied when we say a new era is entered upon?
'Tis Sixty Years Since|Charles Francis Adams
Lynch implied there were no osteological bases for the separation of Eleutherodactylus, Syrrhophus, and Tomodactylus.
A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope|John D. Lynch
For that it did demand time, and that it was not an instantaneous creation, is implied in the expression "to form."
The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality|Rudolf Schmid
But he remembered that Minna had not bound him to secrecy, though, of course, it was implied.
The Vanishing of Betty Varian|Carolyn Wells

British Dictionary definitions for implied

implied

/ (ɪmˈplaɪd) /

adjective

hinted at or suggested; not directly expressedan implied criticism

Derived Formsimpliedly (ɪmˈplaɪɪdlɪ), adverb

imply

/ (ɪmˈplaɪ) /

verb -plies, -plying or -plied (tr; may take a clause as object)

to express or indicate by a hint; suggestwhat are you implying by that remark?

to suggest or involve as a necessary consequence

logic to enable (a conclusion) to be inferred

obsolete to entangle or enfold

Word Origin for imply

C14: from Old French emplier, from Latin implicāre to involve; see implicate

xref

See infer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for implied

imply

late 14c., "to enfold, enwrap, entangle" (the classical Latin sense), from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare "involve" (see implication). Meaning "to involve something unstated as a logical consequence" first recorded c.1400; that of "to hint at" from 1580s. Related: Implied; implying. The distinction between imply and infer is in "What do you imply by that remark?" But, "What am I to infer from that remark?"

implied

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of implied

imply

verb (used with object), im·plied, im·ply·ing.

Origin of imply

Usage note

Examples from the Web for implied

implied

adjective

imply

verb -plies, -plying or -plied (tr; may take a clause as object)

Word Origin for imply

xref

imply