Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [in-fur]
- /ɪnˈfɜr/
- /ɪnˈfɜːr/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [in-fur]
- /ɪnˈfɜr/
Definitions of infer word
- verb with object infer to derive by reasoning; conclude or judge from premises or evidence: They inferred his displeasure from his cool tone of voice. 1
- verb with object infer (of facts, circumstances, statements, etc.) to indicate or involve as a conclusion; lead to. 1
- verb with object infer to guess; speculate; surmise. 1
- verb with object infer to hint; imply; suggest. 1
- verb without object infer to draw a conclusion, as by reasoning. 1
- noun infer Infer has been used to mean “to hint or suggest” since the 16th century by speakers and writers of unquestioned ability and eminence: The next speaker criticized the proposal, inferring that it was made solely to embarrass the government. Despite its long history, many 20th-century usage guides condemn the use, maintaining that the proper word for the intended sense is imply and that to use infer is to lose a valuable distinction between the two words. Although the claimed distinction has probably existed chiefly in the pronouncements of usage guides, and although the use of infer to mean “to suggest” usually produces no ambiguity, the distinction too has a long history and is widely observed by many speakers and writers. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of infer
First appearance:
before 1520 One of the 28% oldest English words
1520-30; < Latin inferre, equivalent to in- in-2 + ferre to bring, carry, bear1
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Infer
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
infer popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 88% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
infer usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for infer
verb infer
- guess — to arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully: to guess a person's weight.
- derive — If you derive something such as pleasure or benefit from a person or from something, you get it from them.
- assume — If you assume that something is true, you imagine that it is true, sometimes wrongly.
- glean — to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
- speculate — to engage in thought or reflection; meditate (often followed by on, upon, or a clause).
Antonyms for infer
verb infer
- abstain — If you abstain from something, usually something you want to do, you deliberately do not do it.
- disbelieve — to have no belief in; refuse or reject belief in: to disbelieve reports of UFO sightings.
- disperse — to drive or send off in various directions; scatter: to disperse a crowd.
- scatter — to throw loosely about; distribute at irregular intervals: to scatter seeds.
- misunderstand — to take (words, statements, etc.) in a wrong sense; understand wrongly.
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