Imply vs. Infer

Imply and infer are often confused because they are, in a sense, opposite perspectives on the same process. Imply means “to suggest; to hint without stating directly,” and infer means “to deduce; to conclude by reasoning based on evidence.” In other words, implying is what a speaker or writer does in expressing an idea:

By asking me how many bags of Cheetos I eat every day, you’re implying that I need to lose weight.

And inferring is what a listener or reader does based on the information he or she has:

From your question about how many bags of Cheetos I eat every day, I can infer that you think I need to lose weight.

Other examples:

He didn’t directly accuse us, but his statements implied that we were at fault.

He didn’t directly accuse us, but I can infer from his statements that he blames us.

From his refusal to speak, I inferred that he was angry.

His refusal to speak implied that he was angry.

The noun forms of these words are implication and inference:

I don’t appreciate the inference implication you made when you said I must really love Cheetos.

Be sure not to confuse infer with refer, which has a completely different meaning.