Imply vs Affirm - What's the difference?
imply | affirm |
(of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence
(of a person) to suggest by logical inference
(of a person or proposition) to hint; to insinuate; to suggest tacitly and avoid a direct statement
(archaic) to enfold, entangle.
* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.iv:
To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
* Bible, Acts xxv. 19
To support or encourage.
To make firm; to confirm, or ratify; especially (legal) to assert or confirm, as a judgment, decree, or order, brought before an appelate court for review.
As verbs the difference between imply and affirm
is that imply is (of a proposition) to have as a necessary consequence while affirm is to agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.imply
English
Verb
(en-verb)- The proposition that "all dogs are mammals" implies that my dog is a mammal
- When I state that your dog is brown, I am not implying that all dogs are brown
- What do you mean "we need to be more careful with hygiene"? Are you implying that I don't wash my hands?
- 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) . SeeSynonyms
* (to have as a necessary consequence) entail * (to suggest tacitly) allude, hint, insinuate, suggestSee also
* connotation * entailExternal links
* *affirm
English
Verb
- She affirmed that she would go when I asked her.
- Jesus, whom Paul affirmed to be alive
- They did everything they could to affirm the children's self-confidence.
