construe
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deduce by inference or interpretation; infer.
He construed her intentions from her gestures.
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to translate, especially orally.
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to analyze the syntax of; to rehearse the applicable grammatical rules of.
to construe a sentence.
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to arrange or combine (words, phrases, etc.) syntactically.
verb (used without object)
noun
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the act of construing.
-
something that is construed.
verb
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to interpret the meaning of (something)
you can construe that in different ways
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(may take a clause as object) to discover by inference; deduce
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to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation)
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to combine (words) syntactically
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old-fashioned (also intr) to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise
noun
Other Word Forms
- construability noun
- construable adjective
- construer noun
Etymology
Origin of construe
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English construen, from Latin construere “to put together, build,” equivalent to con- con- + struere “to pile up, arrange,” perhaps akin to sternere “to spread, scatter”; strew, stratum
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Some may look at this incident as being somewhat playful, but it's hard to dissociate what could very easily be construed as animosity toward the police," he said.
From BBC
We believed the Constitution limited the federal government to the powers enumerated in it, and that these weren’t to be construed so as to deny our constitutional rights.
But it could be construed as creating a slightly misleading picture in terms of net spend on the first team.
From BBC
"To the uninformed American listener, the ongoing talks between Denmark and Greenland might have been construed as if Greenland's secession from Denmark was imminent," said Greenland specialist Mikaela Engell.
From Barron's
Meanwhile, if announcements at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show “are construed as bullish ‘buy the news’ type events,” that could further energize investors, according to Klein.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
