implicature

[ im-pli-kuh-cher ]

noun

, Philosophy, Linguistics.

1. potential inference that is not logical entailment.

implicature

/ ɪmˈplɪkətʃə /

noun

1. a proposition inferred from the circumstances of utterances of another proposition rather than from its literal meaning, as when an academic referee writes the candidate's handwriting is excellent to convey that he has nothing relevant to commend
2. the relation between the uttered and the inferred statement

Word History and Origins

Origin of implicature¹

implicate + -ure

Example Sentences

In the case of Dunne’s post, Basl said, “The implicature of the 10 seconds is: Here’s an easy-peasy way to write an essay.”

From Seattle Times

There is a point at which formal logic and conversational implicature diverge, and a claim such as "all the stolen ballots were for Trump," does not, by some bizarre application of the horseshoe theory, become more true if there were no stolen ballots in the first place.

From Salon

The practice of misleading works through what philosophers call "conversational implicature".

From BBC

It delivers its words at the point where our experience of words, the Gricean implicature that the things said are connected in some way to other things said or to the situation at hand, bruisingly intersects the affordances of digital text.

From Scientific American

In advertising, implicature refers to the implicit message carried out by an image in an ad.

From New York Times