suggest
Americanverb (used with object)
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suggests,
present (3rd person singular)
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suggested,
past participle, past
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suggesting
present participle
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to mention or introduce (an idea, proposition, plan, etc.) for consideration or possible action.
The architect suggested that the building be restored.
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to propose (a person or thing) as suitable or possible for some purpose.
We suggested him for president.
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(of things) to prompt the consideration, making, doing, etc., of.
The glove suggests that she was at the scene of the crime.
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to bring before a person's mind indirectly or without plain expression.
I didn't tell him to leave, I only suggested it.
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to call (something) up in the mind through association or natural connection of ideas.
The music suggests a still night.
verb
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to put forward (a plan, idea, etc) for consideration
I suggest Smith for the post
a plan suggested itself
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to evoke (a person, thing, etc) in the mind of someone by the association of ideas
that painting suggests home to me
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to give an indirect or vague hint of
his face always suggests his peace of mind
Synonym Usage
See hint.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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suggestednessnoun
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suggesternoun
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presuggestverb (used with object)
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unsuggestedadjective
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unsuggestingadjective
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suggestinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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suggestsimple
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suggestssimple
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have suggestedperfect
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has suggestedperfect
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am suggestingprogressive
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are suggestingprogressive
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is suggestingprogressive
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have been suggestingperfect progressive
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has been suggestingperfect progressive
Past
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suggestedsimple
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had suggestedperfect
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was suggestingprogressive
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were suggestingprogressive
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had been suggestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of suggest
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin suggestus (past participle of suggerere “to build up, supply, hint, suggest”), equivalent to sug- sug- + ges- (past participle stem of gerere “to carry, do, display”) + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
To suggest is to propose or hint. If you suggest going out for ice cream, nobody's going to object. If you suggest that your sister should get the frozen yogurt instead, she might think you are suggesting something about her weight. The verb suggest is also used when people speak about scientific research. Experimental results are often used to suggest whether a theory might be correct. For example, if a patient takes a new drug and starts feeling better, that will suggest the drug is working. Suggest can also mean to drop a hint. If you find a polite way to suggest that the pot roast is inedible, you don't come out and declare it directly. You wouldn't want to hurt Mom's feelings.
Vocabulary lists containing suggest
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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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.
See Examples For:
Industry estimates suggest the sector employs around 30,000 people, down sharply from hundreds of thousands three decades ago.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
The new findings suggest that these changes stem partly from the way brain cells package their DNA.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Competition is emerging – from customers designing their own processors and from cheaper suppliers in China – but the latest numbers suggest those challenges remain limited for now.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
If you’re no longer a teenager but still don’t want to spend your whole night trawling Instagram, my Slate colleagues suggest:
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
“Really? And how do you suggest we get you and the other students home?”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
The new work suggests that changing the material's dimensions and placing its atomic structure under strain can produce very different behavior.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
Their analysis suggests this will see bitcoin recover to a previous all-time high of $125,000 by the end of 2026, $200,000 by mid-2027 and a higher peak of $500,000 by 2029.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
The sharp decline in bank lending to businesses since May suggests this move is having an impact on economic activity, and particularly on investment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The new evidence suggests that gradually reducing these abdominal appendages was an important adaptation to terrestrial life.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
History suggests Justice Douglas had the better of the argument.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Molecular clock studies have suggested that hexapods split from their marine crustacean relatives and began adapting to terrestrial environments as early as the Cambrian-Ordovician interval.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
Years ago, when I suggested using tactics drawn from my education in health communication and experience as a communication consultant for the CDC and for-profit health companies, I was usually scoffed at or dismissed.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
Initial reports from Nepal had suggested that an earthquake may have triggered the ice avalanche and landslide.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Warsh suggested the rise in yields before the July meeting meant the market was doing some tightening for him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
And then, to soften things: “I wouldn’t have gone back to the Dannenbergs’ if you hadn’t suggested the idea of paying for the headstone,” I tell him.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
MarketWatch also previously reported on research suggesting that private listings don’t result in higher sales prices than public listings.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
But experience since 2022, “and a century of strategic bombing before that, say sustained air attack hardens societies rather than breaking them, and there is nothing in the Ukrainian data suggesting otherwise,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
“The data needs to bear out the ultimate determination on this, but again, there’s some contra-data that’s coming out and suggesting different things,” Newsom said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Nepal's foreign minister earlier said an earthquake was reported on the Tibet-Nepal border shortly before the landslide, suggesting it may have triggered the disaster.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
In early 2007 Grant wrote a series of pieces suggesting that the rating agencies had abandoned their posts—that they were almost surely rating these CDOs without themselves knowing exactly what was inside them.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
