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infer

/ɪnˈfɜːr//ɪnˈfɜː/·verb
to work out a conclusion from evidence rather than from a direct statement
Fig. 1 — A detective's pin board, already strung: photographs tacked to the cork, red threads running from every one of them in toward a single blank card in the middle.
01Definition

To infer is to reach a conclusion the evidence points to without its being stated outright — from the Latin inferre, 'to carry in'. You see wet streets and infer it rained; a reader infers a character's mood from a single gesture. Inference fills the gap between what is shown and what is meant, so it always carries some risk: a plausible inference can still be wrong. Crucially, the writer implies; the reader infers — the two are not interchangeable.

02In use
  • iFrom the scratches on the bone, researchers inferred how the animal had died.
  • iiWe can infer from the data what the report did not openly imply: that demand will keep rising.
  • iiiReaders are left to infer the ending, and must discern the truth the author only hints at.
03Collocations
  • infer from
  • infer a meaning
  • reasonable to infer
  • infer a conclusion

Family inference (noun) · inferred (adjective) · inferential (adjective)

04Relations

=deduce, conclude, gather, surmise, discern

≠state, specify, assert

05Compared
PairThe difference
infer vs implythe source implies; the audience infers — a writer implies, a reader infers.
06TOEFL & IELTS

A pillar of TOEFL/IELTS reading: 'inference' questions ask what a passage implies but does not state, and 'it can be inferred that…' is a stock stem. The classic trap is the imply/infer pair — speakers and texts imply, listeners and readers infer. Learn the noun 'inference' and adjective 'inferential', and treat every inference as provisional, not proven.

07Asked
What does infer mean?
To reach a conclusion from evidence rather than from a direct statement — you see wet streets and infer it rained. Inference fills the gap between what is shown and what is meant. The scene above is the act itself: a detective reading a culprit's face out of where all the threads on the board lead, the answer reasoned from clues, never written down.
What is the difference between infer and deduce?
Both reason from evidence to a conclusion, but with different certainty. Deduce moves from general rules to a guaranteed result — if the premises hold, the conclusion must ('all men are mortal, so Socrates is'). Infer is looser: it reaches a likely conclusion the evidence merely points to, which could still be wrong. Deduction proves; inference suggests.
What is an inference?
The noun for what you infer — a conclusion drawn from evidence rather than stated outright. 'Draw an inference', 'a reasonable inference'. In reading tests, an inference question asks what a passage implies but never says directly. The key caution: an inference is provisional, not proven, so a plausible one can still turn out false.
Is it 'infer from' — how do you use the preposition?
From marks the evidence you reason out of: 'we infer the temperature from the reading', 'you can infer her mood from her tone'. The pattern is infer something FROM something. You can also infer THAT a conclusion holds ('we infer that demand rose'). What you never do is infer TO — the conclusion is the object, not a destination.
Why is 'inferred' spelled with two r's?
Because infer stresses its final syllable and ends in a single vowel plus r, so that r doubles before an ending that starts with a vowel: inferred, inferring. The same rule gives referred and preferred. But the noun inference does not double — the stress shifts back to the first syllable, so it is inference, one r.
What is the difference between imply and infer?
The quick tell: the speaker or writer implies (drops the hint), while the listener or reader infers (draws it out). The full contrast, with both animated scenes, is on the imply vs infer page in the 'Compared' list above.