Implicate

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Implicate

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

verb

Pronunciation

IM-plih-kayt  /ˈɪmplɪkeɪt/

Definition

To show or suggest that someone is involved in a crime or wrongdoing; to involve or connect closely or incriminatingly; to have as a consequence or necessary part.

Plain meaning

To implicate someone means to show or suggest that they are involved in something — usually something bad or illegal. Evidence implicates a suspect in a crime. A witness's testimony implicates an accomplice. A company's records implicate its executives in fraud. The word can also mean to involve or entail logically: accepting one position may implicate accepting another. In both senses, implication is the noun form.

Register

Neutral to serious. Implicate is primarily used in serious contexts — legal, criminal, investigative. Being implicated carries a strong connotation of guilt or culpability, even before any proof. In philosophical logic and pragmatics, implication and implicate are neutral technical terms.