read into

/ riːd /

verb

1. tr, preposition to discern in or infer from a statement (meanings not intended by the speaker or writer)

Idioms and Phrases

Find an additional hidden or unintended meaning in something that is said or written, as in What I read into that speech on foreign policy is that the Vice President plans to run for President . [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

One could read into this a subtextual commentary on the subjugation of women found in conservative strains of what Reed refers to as “the big three” — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — or even society in general.

From Los Angeles Times

Some people read into that and think it means stopping the white majority from transitioning into a multiracial one.

From Los Angeles Times

“Nobody would have been concerned. But the fact that you chose not to is telling — and people read into that with fear.”

From Los Angeles Times

We read into their biographies and project onto their bodies a broader set of principles, values, and worldviews.

From Salon

It is too early to read into patterns of results... but the top seeds dropped more points this time compared to the first round of group games last year.

From BBC

Related Words

• ascertain
• assume
• construe
• deduce
• derive
• figure out
• glean
• guess
• interpret
• presume
• presuppose
• reckon
• speculate
• surmise