infer
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence.
They inferred his displeasure from his cool tone of voice.
- Synonyms:
- suppose, conjecture, imagine, reason, deduce
-
(of facts, circumstances, statements, etc.) to indicate or involve as a conclusion; lead to.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to conclude (a state of affairs, supposition, etc) by reasoning from evidence; deduce
-
(tr) to have or lead to as a necessary or logical consequence; indicate
-
(tr) to hint or imply
Usage
Infer has been used to mean “to hint or suggest” since the 16th century by speakers and writers of unquestioned ability and eminence: The next speaker criticized the proposal, inferring that it was made solely to embarrass the government. Despite its long history, many usage guides condemn the use, maintaining that the proper word for the intended sense is imply and that to use infer is to lose a valuable distinction between the two words. Although the claimed distinction has probably existed chiefly in the pronouncements of usage guides, and although the use of infer to mean “to suggest” usually produces no ambiguity, the distinction too has a long history and is widely observed by many speakers and writers.
The use of infer to mean imply is becoming more and more common in both speech and writing. There is nevertheless a useful distinction between the two which many people would be in favour of maintaining. To infer means `to deduce', and is used in the construction to infer something from something : I inferred from what she said that she had not been well . To imply (sense 1) means `to suggest, to insinuate' and is normally followed by a clause: are you implying that I was responsible for the mistake?
Other Word Forms
- inferable adjective
- inferably adverb
- inferrable adjective
- inferrer noun
- misinfer verb
- noninferable adjective
- noninferably adverb
- subinfer verb
- uninferable adjective
Etymology
Origin of infer
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin inferre, equivalent to in- + ferre “to bring, carry, bear”; in- 2, bear 1
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.
In real fires, with darkness, smoke, people in various states of injury impeding one another, falls on stairs, counterflows and hesitation, theoretical egress capacities inferred from other evacuations break down.
At once, “Marty Supreme” confirms that everything we thought we knew about this character has been inferred.
From Salon
The neutral rate can’t be directly observed, though it can be inferred from how the economy is faring.
A new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School shows that pathology AI models can infer demographic details directly from tissue slides.
From Science Daily
By measuring this filtered starlight, astronomers can infer which gases are present.
From Science Daily
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.
