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Implies vs Suggests - What's the difference?

implies | suggests |

As verbs the difference between implies and suggests

is that implies is third-person singular of imply while suggests is third-person singular of suggest.

implies

English

Verb

(head)
  • (imply)

  • imply

    English

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • (of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence
  • The proposition that "all dogs are mammals" implies that my dog is a mammal
  • (of a person) to suggest by logical inference
  • When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown
  • (of a person or proposition) to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement
  • What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?
  • (archaic) to enfold, entangle.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.iv:
  • And in his bosome secretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall sting implyes .

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Synonyms

    * (to have as a necessary consequence) entail * (to suggest tacitly) allude, hint, insinuate, suggest

    See also

    * connotation * entail

    suggests

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • (suggest)

  • suggest

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To imply but stop short of saying explicitly.
  • * (John Locke)
  • Some ideas are suggested to the mind by all the ways of sensation and reflection.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 14, author=Angelique Chrisafis, work=Guardian
  • , title= Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism , passage=She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.}}
  • To make one suppose; cause one to suppose (something).
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 24, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club
  • , title= Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3 , passage=In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= Sarah Boseley
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=15, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Children shun vegetables and fruit , passage=The [British Heart Foundation's] data […] suggests there has been little improvement in eating, drinking and exercise habits in spite of the concern about obesity and the launch of the government's child measurement programme, which warns parents if their children are overweight. About a third of under-16s across the UK are either overweight or obese.}}
  • To ask for without demanding.
  • To recommend.
  • * , chapter=19
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}
  • (obsolete) To seduce; to prompt to evil; to tempt.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested .

    Usage notes

    * (ask for without demanding) This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the form ending in -ing ). See

    Synonyms

    * (imply but stop short of saying explicitly) allude, hint, imply, insinuate * (ask for without demanding) propose * See also

    Derived terms

    * suggestion * suggestive

    See also

    * (Suggestion)