infer

[ in-fur ]

verb (used with object)

, in·ferred, in·fer·ring.

1. 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

2. (of facts, circumstances, statements, etc.) to indicate or involve as a conclusion; lead to.
3. to guess; speculate; surmise.
4. to hint; imply; suggest.

verb (used without object)

, in·ferred, in·fer·ring.

1. to draw a conclusion, as by reasoning.

infer

/ ɪnˈfɜː /

verb

1. to conclude (a state of affairs, supposition, etc) by reasoning from evidence; deduce
2. tr to have or lead to as a necessary or logical consequence; indicate
3. tr to hint or imply

Usage Note

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.

Usage

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?

Derived Forms

• inˈferably, adverb
• inˈferable, adjective
• inˈferrer, noun

Other Words From

• in·fer·a·ble in·fer·ra·ble adjective
• in·fer·a·bly adverb
• in·fer·rer noun
• mis·in·fer verb misinferred misinferring
• non·in·fer·a·ble adjective
• non·in·fer·a·bly adverb
• sub·in·fer verb subinferred subinferring
• un·in·fer·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of infer¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin inferre, equivalent to in- + ferre “to bring, carry, bear”; in- ², bear ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of infer¹

C16: from Latin inferre to bring into, from ferre to bear, carry

Example Sentences

And, as you might infer, ending this story with a promise of perpetual happiness may be a bit complicated, and it’s in those entanglements where the delights of this lively, generous screwball adventure can be found.

From Los Angeles Times

“Circumstantially, of course, we could infer that that was exactly what Matthews was doing,” the D.A. report said.

From Los Angeles Times

The coroner said it was not possible to independently evaluate the impact of the recording, adding: "It would be unsafe to infer these links in the absence of a clear and reliable causal connection."

From BBC

"This is a great technological achievement: we are using the tiny Doppler shift in the radar echo to infer fall speeds of only around one metre-per-second, and this is from a satellite that is hurtling round its orbit at 7km/s," he told BBC News.

From BBC

He even made a Freudian reference to Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes,” holding his hands just a few inches apart and leaving the audience to infer the rest.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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