infer

verb

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in·fer | \ in-ˈfər

inferred; inferring

Definition of infer

transitive verb

1 : to derive as a conclusion from facts or premises we see smoke and infer fire— L. A. White — compare imply

2 : guess, surmise your letter … allows me to infer that you are as well as ever— O. W. Holmes †1935

3a : to involve as a normal outcome of thought

b : to point out : indicate this doth infer the zeal I had to see him— William Shakespeare another survey … infers that two-thirds of all present computer installations are not paying for themselves— H. R. Chellman

4 : suggest, hint are you inferring I'm incompetent?

intransitive verb

: to draw inferences men … have observed, inferred, and reasoned … to all kinds of results— John Dewey

Other Words from infer Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Infer vs. Imply: Usage Guide More Example Sentences Learn More about infer

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Other Words from infer

inferable or less commonly inferrible \ in-ˈfər-ə-bəl

\ adjective

inferrer \ in-ˈfər-ər

\ noun

Choose the Right Synonym for infer

infer, deduce, conclude, judge, gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise. from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization. denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning. concluded that only the accused could be guilty judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based. judge people by their actions gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications. gathered their desire to be alone without a word

Infer vs. Imply: Usage Guide

Sir Thomas More is the first writer known to have used both infer and imply in their approved senses in 1528 (with infer meaning "to deduce from facts" and imply meaning "to hint at"). He is also the first to have used infer in a sense close in meaning to imply (1533). Both of these uses of infer coexisted without comment until some time around the end of World War I. Since then, the "indicate" and "hint or suggest" meanings of infer have been frequently condemned as an undesirable blurring of a useful distinction. The actual blurring has been done by the commentators. The "indicate" sense of infer, descended from More's use of 1533, does not occur with a personal subject. When objections arose, they were to a use with a personal subject (which is now considered a use of the "suggest, hint" sense of infer). Since dictionaries did not recognize this use specifically, the objectors assumed that the "indicate" sense was the one they found illogical, even though it had been in respectable use for four centuries. The actual usage condemned was a spoken one never used in logical discourse. At present the condemned "suggest, hint" sense is found in print chiefly in letters to the editor and other informal prose, not in serious intellectual writing. The controversy over the "suggest, hint" sense has apparently reduced the frequency with which the "indicate" sense of infer is used.

Examples of infer in a Sentence

May I remark here that although I seem to infer that private communication is an unholy mess of grammatical barbarism, … such is not my intent … — V. Louise Higgins, "Approaching Usage in the Classroom," English Journal, March 1960 … I infer that Swinburne found an adequate outlet for the creative impulse in his poetry … — T. S. Eliot, The Sacred Wood, 1920 Lucy … reseated herself with an alacrity and cheerfulness which seemed to infer that she could taste no greater delight … — Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, 1811 It's difficult to infer how these changes will affect ordinary citizens. Are you inferring that I'm wrong?

Recent Examples on the Web Now, various teams are developing new ways to infer exactly how the multiverse bubbles and what happens when those bubble universes collide. — quantamagazine.org, "Physicists Study How Universes Might Bubble Up and Collide," 25 Jan. 2021 That enabled them to infer the rate at which the cancer itself was spreading among devils. — Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Tasmanian devils claw their way back from extinction," 10 Dec. 2020 Instagram can use computational techniques to infer people’s affective states—their emotions and moods—based on many signals available to the platform. — Nazanin Andalibi, Quartz, "Instagram’s Shop tab is the perfect example of the dangers of surveillance capitalism," 29 Dec. 2020 Instagram can use computational techniques to infer people’s affective states – their emotions and moods – based on many signals available to the platform. — Nazanin Andalibi, The Conversation, "Instagram’s redesign shifts toward shopping – here’s how that can be harmful," 28 Dec. 2020 From the shapes and sizes of these hypothetical structures, the scientists could infer whether, and in what manner, dark matter particles interact with themselves. — Quanta Magazine, "The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding," 23 Nov. 2020 Scientists can then use this relational data to infer what the dog family tree must have looked like. — Grace Huckins, Wired, "Ancient Dog DNA Reveals Their Enduring Connection With People," 16 Nov. 2020 In the absence of clear signals, our brains use information about the crowd to infer appropriate actions, similar to the behavior of schooling fish and flocking birds. — Filippo Menczer, Scientific American, "Information Overload Helps Fake News Spread, and Social Media Knows It," 20 Nov. 2020 Because the rate of hospitalization is more or less stable, if more people are going to the hospital to be treated for covid-19, health officials infer more people overall are getting infected. — Nyssa Kruse, Arkansas Online, "Record coronavirus hospitalizations in Arkansas, explained," 13 Nov. 2020

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