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Suspect vs Infer - What's the difference?

suspect | infer | Related terms |

Suspect is a related term of infer.


In lang=en terms the difference between suspect and infer

is that suspect is to have suspicion while infer is to lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply (now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject).

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between suspect and infer

is that suspect is (obsolete) to look up to; to respect while infer is (obsolete) to introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc; to bring in.

As verbs the difference between suspect and infer

is that suspect is to imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof while infer is to introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.

As a noun suspect

is a person who is suspected of something, in particular of committing a crime.

As an adjective suspect

is viewed with suspicion; suspected.

suspect

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof.
    • to suspect the presence of disease
  • * Milton
    • From her hand I could suspect no ill.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=5 citation , passage=Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected .}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution , passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected , but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.}}
  • To distrust or have doubts about (something or someone).
    • to suspect the truth of a story
    (Addison)
  • To believe (someone) to be guilty.
  • To have suspicion.
  • (obsolete) To look up to; to respect.

    • Synonyms

    * (imagine or suppose to be true) imagine, suppose, think * (sense) distrust, doubt * (believe to be guilty) accuse, point the finger at

    Noun

    (wikipedia suspect) (en noun)
  • A person who is suspected of something, in particular of committing a crime.
    • Round up the usual suspects.'' — ''Casablanca

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Viewed with suspicion; suspected.
  • * (rfdate) (John Milton):
    • What I can do or offer is suspect .
  • * '>citation
    • In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature , David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.
  • (nonstandard) Viewing with suspicion; suspecting.
  • * 2004 , Will Nickell, letter to the editor of Field & Stream , Volume CIX Number 8 (December 2004–January 2005), page 18:
    • Now I’m suspect of other advice that I read in your pages.

    Synonyms

    * (viewed with suspicion) dodgy (informal), doubtful, dubious, fishy (informal), suspicious

    Related terms

    * suspicion * suspicious

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms ----

    infer

    English

    Verb

    (inferr)
  • To introduce (something) as a reasoned conclusion; to conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.
  • * 2010 , "Keep calm, but don't carry on", The Economist , 7 Oct 2010:
    • It is dangerous to infer too much from martial bluster in British politics: at the first hint of trouble, channelling Churchill is a default tactic for beleaguered leaders of all sorts.
  • To lead to (something) as a consequence; to imply. (Now often considered incorrect, especially with a person as subject.)
  • *, II.3:
    • These and a thousand like propositions, which concurre in this purpose, do evidently inferre .
  • * Shakespeare
    • This doth infer the zeal I had to see him.
  • * Sir Thomas More
    • The first part is not the proof of the second, but rather contrariwise, the second inferreth well the first.
  • (obsolete) To cause, inflict (something) (upon) or (to) someone.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.8:
    • faire Serena.
  • (obsolete) To introduce (a subject) in speaking, writing etc.; to bring in.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Full well hath Clifford played the orator, / Inferring arguments of mighty force.

    Usage notes

    There are two ways in which the word "infer" is sometimes used as if it meant "imply". "Implication" is done by a person when making a "statement", whereas "inference" is done to a proposition after it had already been made or assumed. Secondly, the word "infer" can sometimes be used to mean "allude" or "express" in a suggestive manner rather than as a direct "statement". Using the word "infer" in this sense is now generally considered incorrect. [http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000232.htm

    Synonyms

    * assume, conclude, deduce, construe

    Related terms

    * inferable * inference * -ferous (-iferous)

    Anagrams

    * ----