infer vs. imply

You might rightly assume the two are synonymous. You’d be wrong.

Infer means to deduce from available evidence, whereas imply means to furnish precisely such evidence. The distinction becomes all the more puzzling when we consider that their noun forms—inference and implication—are indeed synonyms. To infer is not to make an inference but rather to recognize one.

“I inferred from his clothing that he had seen better days. When I implied as much, he became irate.”