Synonyms of infer

infer

verb

in-ˈfər 

1

as in to derive

to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information

he inferred that she had left because her coat was gone

Synonyms & Similar Words

• derive
• understand
• decide
• conclude
• deduce
• think
• guess
• extrapolate
• assume
• speculate
• judge
• reason
• ascertain
• suppose
• gather
• make out
• read
• surmise
• interpret
• draw a conclusion
• construe
• contemplate
• rationalize
• conjecture
• find out
• philosophize
• dope (out)

2

as in to indicate

to convey an idea indirectly

the results infer that there might be a problem with one piece of the equipment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• indicate
• imply
• suggest
• hint
• allude
• refer
• intimate
• insinuate
• signify
• mention
• signal
• point
• signalize
• smell (of)
• advert
• smack (of)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• declare
• explain
• announce
• proclaim
• describe
• elucidate
• spell out
• delineate

Synonym Chooser

How is the word infer distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of infer are conclude, deduce, gather, and judge. While all these words 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

Where would conclude be a reasonable alternative to infer?

In some situations, the words conclude and infer are roughly equivalent. However, conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning.

concluded that only the accused could be guilty

How are the words deduce and infer related?

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

When is gather a more appropriate choice than infer?

While the synonyms gather and infer are close in meaning, gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications.

gathered their desire to be alone without a word

In what contexts can judge take the place of infer?

The synonyms judge and infer are sometimes interchangeable, but judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based.

judge people by their actions

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of infer

By design, these tools see far more of what users do online, and can even infer why a user is acting in certain ways. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025

So if our household optimizer, dedicated to energy efficiency and comfort, can infer occupancy from passive motion-detection or door sensors, the system must not escalate to video (for example, grabbing a security-camera snapshot). —Keivan Navaie, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Oct. 2025

Dental microwear texture analysis can infer whether an animal mostly ate tough foods such as leaves and grass or hard foods such as seeds and fruit pits. —Aditya Reddy Kurre, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025

By observing how these everyday devices communicate, attackers can infer information about people in the environment without installing or accessing any additional equipment, making the method far easier to deploy and potentially more widespread. —Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 11 Oct. 2025