implicated

American  

[im-pli-key-tid] / ˈɪm plɪˌkeɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. shown to be also involved, especially in an incriminating manner.

   In the wake of last year’s doping scandal, the Cycling Federation states that this year’s team will have no connection to any of the implicated team members, either directly or indirectly.

2. implied as a necessary circumstance, or as something to be inferred or understood.

   My defensive post was answering an implicated accusation that clearly overstepped the boundaries of an opinion.

3. intimately connected or related, or affected as a result.

   The paper delves into the historical background of our modern understanding of time, as well as the implicated problem of infinity.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of implicate.

Other Word Forms

• unimplicated adjective

Etymology

Origin of implicated

implicate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Someone who is implicated in something is shown to be somehow involved in it. The word is often used in a negative sense, suggesting an involvement in something wrong, with the person being implicated by the facts of the case. The Latin word implicātus, which means "folded in," is the past participle of implicāre, meaning to interweave ideas or objects. In the 17th century, the word referred to a general entanglement in a complicated situation. By 1797, the definition had come to focus on the idea of criminal involvement, suggesting someone "folded in," or involved, in a crime or scandal. Today, the word implicated is not necessarily tied to crime, but it's generally negative.

Example Sentences

It’s hardly a far stretch to suggest that global warming is implicated in decreasing sperm count.

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026

The attack on South Pars directly implicated a core source of gas production.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

AFP and SourceMaterial identified two other companies implicated in the probe, Surya Inti Primakarya, whose director, Van Ricardo, was arrested, and Bumi Mulia Makmur, whose director, Erwin, was arrested.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

A journalist - who had his house searched by police investigating allegations of spying for China - has told BBC Wales he was baffled to find himself implicated in the case.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

His alibi—that he was with another woman—checked out, and it became clear that the forger who had implicated Brown had fabricated his story hoping to bargain with prosecutors for better prison conditions.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Related Words

• involved