imply

verb

im·​ply im-ˈplī 

implied; implying

transitive verb

1

: to express indirectly

Her remarks implied a threat.

The news report seems to imply his death was not an accident.

2

: to involve or indicate by inference, association, or necessary consequence rather than by direct statement

rights imply obligations

3

: to contain potentially

4

obsolete : enfold, entwine

Infer vs. Imply: Usage Guide

The use of infer to mean "suggest, hint" is commonly identified as an error for imply, especially when used with a human subject. Sentences like "They infer that it can't be done" and "Are you inferring that I'm at fault?" are, by this thinking, correctly rendered as "They imply that it can't be done" and "Are you implying that I am at fault?" In truth, the meanings of infer and imply have overlapped since the 16th century, making the need for a distinction a matter of preference. Those who wish to honor the distinction will limit their use of infer to its meanings relating to reaching conclusions and surmising or guessing, as in "Based on these facts we can infer certain conclusions"; they will avoid even the "to involve as a normal outcome of thought" and "point out, indicate" meanings.

Synonyms of imply

• indicate
• suggest
• hint

Choose the Right Synonym for imply

suggest, imply, hint, intimate, insinuate mean to convey an idea indirectly.

suggest may stress putting into the mind by association of ideas, awakening of a desire, or initiating a train of thought.

a film title that suggests its subject matter

imply is close to suggest but may indicate a more definite or logical relation of the unexpressed idea to the expressed.

measures implying that bankruptcy was imminent

hint implies the use of slight or remote suggestion with a minimum of overt statement.

hinted that she might get the job

intimate stresses delicacy of suggestion without connoting any lack of candor.

intimates that there is more to the situation than meets the eye

insinuate applies to the conveying of a usually unpleasant idea in a sly underhanded manner.

insinuated that there were shady dealings

Examples of imply in a Sentence

Early reports implied that the judge's death was not an accident.

His words implied a threat.

War implies fighting and death.

Recent Examples on the Web

There were some very good hypotheses implying that diet and cigarette smoking might be linked, but it had never really been shown systematically or consistently. —Veronique Greenwood, Time, 6 Nov. 2025

Jerry Jones didn’t care much about what his Dallas Cowboys’ 3-5-1 record implied before the NFL trade deadline. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 5 Nov. 2025

According to Bloomberg, the 12-month consensus price target on the new DuPont is about $44, implying that there’s still some more valuation upside to go. —Jeff Marks, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2025

That’s not a roundabout way of calling the Murdaughs ugly or implying the series’ costume, makeup, and hair departments haven’t done their best to knock the dashing Jason Clarke down a peg. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English implien, emplien "to enfold, surround, entangle, involve by inference, contain implicitly," borrowed from Anglo-French emplier, implier "to involve by inference, entail," probably adaptation of emplier (variant of empleier, emploier "to entangle, put to use, employ entry 1") as a vernacular equivalent of Medieval Latin implicāre "to imply, mean by implication," modeled on parallel verbs in Middle English, as applien "to apply," replien "to reply entry 1" and their correspondents in Anglo-French — more at implicate

Note: The genesis of this verb is idiosyncratic, as it has no correspondent in continental French, and even the Anglo-French examples are—to judge by citations in the Anglo-Norman Dictionary—later than the Middle English examples, which are not much earlier than the fifteenth century. Middle French has impliquer as an adaptation of Latin implicāre, but this method of creating vernacular forms of verbs in -plicāre, though common in French, gained little traction in English. Note late and rare Middle English appliquen "to apply" (from Anglo-French and Middle French appliquer), for which the Oxford English Dictionary has no evidence past the sixteenth century.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Rhymes for imply

• apply
• awry
• belie
• bely
• bigeye
• bonsai
• buckeye
• comply
• coxae
• decry
• defy
• deny

Kids Definition

imply

verb

im·​ply im-ˈplī 

implied; implying

1

: to include or involve as a natural or necessary part even though not put clearly into words

rights imply obligations

an implied warranty

2

: to express indirectly : suggest rather than say plainly

your remark implies that I am wrong

Legal Definition

imply

transitive verb

im·​ply im-ˈplī 

implied; implying

1

: to recognize as existing by inference or necessary consequence especially on legal or equitable grounds

in ordinary circumstances…the law would imply that it was the duty of the hospital to use due care

—Haase v. Starnes, 915 S.W.2d 675 (1996)

2

: to make known indirectly