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WORDS WORTH KNOWING

Infer vs. Imply

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam Posted by Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.



Most people use the words infer and imply interchangeably as if they mean the same thing.

Most people use the words infer and imply interchangeably as if they mean the same thing.

But they don't.

To infer is to form an opinion based on evidence and reasoning. The listener infers. To imply is to express something in an indirect way without saying it plainly. The speaker implies.

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