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imply

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imply¹

  • /ɪmˈplaɪ/ US, UK

Rhymes with -aɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English implien, emplien, borrowed from Old French emplier, from Latin implicare (“to infold, involve”), from in (“in”) + plicare (“to fold”). Doublet of employ and implicate.

verb implies · implying · implied · imply

  1. transitive, of a proposition To have as a necessary consequence; to lead to (something) as a consequence. Correlation does not imply causation

    Similar: entail, implicate, import

  2. transitive, of a person To suggest by logical inference. When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown.
  3. transitive, of a person or proposition To hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement. What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?

    Similar: allude, hint, infer, insinuate, suggest, advert, imply, indicate, inkle, intimate, moot, refer

  4. archaic To enfold, entangle. And in his bosome secretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall sting implyes.

    Similar: envelop, wrap up, ensnare, implicate, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, foul, imply, involve, mat, ravel

IMPLY²

noun IMPLYs

  1. A logic gate that implements material implication.

Opposite: NIMPLY

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: entail, mean, connote, involve, incriminate, inculpate, suggest, infer, insinuate, deduce, result, cause, guess, presuppose, suppose, presume

noun

Opposite: NIMPLY

Translations

Every language

verb to have as a consequence

Españolimplicar, acarrear, conllevar
中文意味着 yìwèizhe
Portuguêsimplicar, ter como consequência, acarretar
Françaisimpliquer
Deutschimplizieren, zur Folge haben
Italianoimplicare
Русскийпредполага́ть predpolagátʹ
Tiếng Việtbao hàm

verb to suggest by a logical inference

Españolimplicar
Françaisimpliquer
Deutschimplizieren
Русскийподразумева́ть podrazumevátʹ

verb to express suggestively rather than as a direct statement

Españolinsinuar, dar a entender
日本語ほのめかす honomekasu
中文暗示 ànshì, 暗指 ànzhǐ
Portuguêsdar a entender, insinuar
Françaisinsinuer, sous-entendre
Deutschbedeuten, implizieren, sagen wollen
Ελληνικάυπονοώ yponoó
Русскийнамека́ть namekátʹ, намекну́ть nameknútʹ
العربيةاِنْطَوَى inṭawā

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MLA

"imply." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/imply. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

imply. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/imply

Chicago

"imply." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/imply.

BibTeX
@misc{imply_2026,
  title = {imply},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/imply},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}