construe

verb con·strue \ kən-ˈstrü \

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Examples: construe in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of construe

construed; construing

transitive verb

1 : to analyze the arrangement and connection of words in (a sentence or sentence part)

construe this Latin sentence by Cicero

2 : to understand or explain the sense or intention of usually in a particular way or with respect to a given set of circumstances

construed my actions as hostile

Her frustration was construed as anger.

intransitive verb

: to construe a sentence or sentence part especially in connection with translating

—

construable

play \kən-ˈstrü-ə-bəl\ adjective

See construe defined for English-language learners

See construe defined for kids

construe was our Word of the Day on 07/03/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of construe in a Sentence

The way the court construes various words has changed over time.
the role of the justices of the Supreme Court in construing the constitution

Recent Examples of construe from the Web

Freedom of speech will be construed to include only speech that the legislature prefers—which, assuredly, will not include the kind that bolsters electoral challenges to incumbent representatives.

— WSJ, "Cellphone Site Data and Fourth Amendment," 1 July 2018
The suit plausibly alleges President Donald Trump made statements that could be construed as evidence of racial bias and tainted the administration’s decision-making process about the temporary protections, Chen also said.

— sudhin thanawala, The Seattle Times, "Lawsuit over temporary immigration status moves forward," 25 June 2018
Police arrested an East Hartford High School student after investigating social media posts and comments that were construed as threatening.

— jesse leavenworth, courant.com, "Police Arrest East Hartford High Student After Probing Threat," 4 June 2018
The pain of coming so close to winning will likely still be quite raw for the majority of Liverpool fans, and so the behaviour of Madrid's players here could be construed as pretty sketchy...

— SI.com, "PHOTOS: Real Madrid Stars Meet at Anfield and Laugh in Front of Liverpool Badge After UCL Final Win," 3 June 2018
This is a term, of course, that both political and religious conservatives these days construe very broadly to sanction all sorts of exclusive and exclusionary demands, even in the use of federal funds.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump’s Faith-Based PR Strategy," 3 May 2018
The map doesn’t just list objects that would be construed as of military use.

— erik lacitis, The Seattle Times, "The Soviets’ secret map of Seattle tells a lot about us," 1 June 2018
Elliott said the right of citizens to act through initiative has long been construed to extend only to legislative acts and not to administrative or executive acts.

— david garrick, sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego seeking court review of competing Mission Valley stadium ballot measures," 11 May 2018
Trump and his allies have construed this as improper spying on his campaign, which delegitimizes the entire Mueller probe.

— margaret hartmann, Daily Intelligencer, "Bannon Is Still Advising Trump Allies on Their War With Mueller," 18 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'construe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Construe can usually be translated as "interpret". It's often used in law; thus, an Attorney General might construe the term "serious injury" in a child-abuse law to include bruises, or a judge might construe language about gifts to "heirs" to include spouses. The IRS's construal of some of your activities might be different from your own—and much more expensive at tax time. Construing is also close to translating; so when the British say "public school", for instance, it should be construed or translated as "prep school" in American terms.