infer
verb
transitive verb
L. A. White O. W. Holmes †1935 William Shakespeare H. R. Chellmanintransitive verb
John Dewey 
Synonyms
- conclude
- decide
- deduce
- derive
- extrapolate
- gather
- judge
- make out
- reason
- understand
Example Sentences
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? Caitlin O'kane, CBS News, 29 Aug. 2022 Data that might be used to infer a sensitive piece of information about a person is also sensitive, the court said. Catherine Stupp, WSJ, 10 Aug. 2022 Amphibians and human brains Adding amphibians to the evolutionary puzzle allows researchers to infer how the brain and its cell types has changed over time, as well as the mechanisms behind regeneration. Ashley Maynard, The Conversation, 1 Sep. 2022 The only way astronomers have been able to infer its presence is via its interaction with gravity. Robert Lea, Popular Mechanics, 29 July 2022 The jets are one way astronomers can indirectly infer the presence of a black hole. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 July 2022 In a criminal case, jurors cannot infer anything from a defendant’s refusal to testify, but that does not hold true for civil cases. New York Times, 8 June 2022 Paleontologists can infer the existence of legs based on sockets in some species’ outer shells and trace impressions. Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 3 June 2022 And these signs only allow researchers to infer the state of consciousness based on outside measurements. Leonardo De Cosmo, Scientific American, 12 July 2022 See More Word History
Middle French or Latin; Middle French inferer, from Latin inferre, literally, to carry or bring into, from in- + ferre to carry — more at bear
1528, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
infer
verb
Legal Definition
infer
verb
transitive verb
intransitive verb
infer
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- derive
- understand
- decide
- deduce
- extrapolate
- conclude
- reason
- think
- guess
- speculate
- assume
- judge
- ascertain
- suppose
- surmise
- interpret
- gather
- read
- make out
- construe
- conjecture
- draw a conclusion
- rationalize
- contemplate
- philosophize
- find out
- dope (out)
Synonyms & Similar Words
- imply
- indicate
- hint
- suggest
- allude
- refer
- intimate
- insinuate
- signal
- mention
- point
- signify
- signalize
- advert
- smack (of)
- smell (of)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- explain
- declare
- announce
- proclaim
- elucidate
- describe
- delineate
- spell out
Synonym Chooser
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.
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.
Deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization.
While the synonyms gather and infer are close in meaning, gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications.
The synonyms judge and infer are sometimes interchangeable, but judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based.