Verb: infer (inferred,inferring) in'fur
- Conclude by reasoning from evidence or premises
"She inferred his intentions from his actions";
- deduce, deduct [rare], derive
- Draw from specific cases for more general cases
"From these examples we can infer a general rule";
- generalize, generalise [Brit], extrapolate
- Guess correctly; solve by guessing
"He inferred the right number of beans in the jar and won the prize";
- guess
- Believe to be the case
"From his silence, she inferred his disapproval";
- understand
- [non-standard] Hint or imply something without stating it directly
"His tone inferred disapproval"
Derived forms: inferring, infers, inferred
Type of: believe, conclude, figure out, lick [N. Amer, informal], puzzle out, reason, reason out, solve, suss [Brit, informal], suss out [Brit, informal], unriddle, work, work out
Encyclopedia: Infer