imply

Intermediatezipf 3.83

Pronunciation

/ɪmˈplaɪ/(im-PLY)

Part of speech

verbneutral

Chinese

暗示；意味着（间接表达，不直接说出）

Definition

To suggest something without explicitly stating it.

Word family

  • implication/ˌɪmplɪˈkeɪʃən/(n)含义/暗示
  • implicit/ɪmˈplɪsɪt/(adj)含蓄的
  • implicitly/ɪmˈplɪsɪtli/(adv)含蓄地

Collocations

  • imply that
  • implied meaning
  • strongly implied
  • the implication is

Examples

  1. 1.Are you implying that I made a mistake? (suggest indirectly)
  2. 2.The data implies a correlation between diet and health. (suggest)

Synonyms

  • suggest/səˈdʒɛst/— indicate indirectly
  • hint/hɪnt/— give a subtle clue
  • insinuate/ɪnˈsɪnjueɪt/— suggest negatively, subtly accuse

Etymology

im- (in) + plicare (to fold) — meaning folded inside the words