implication

implication

Simple Definition of implication

• : a possible future effect or result
• : something that is suggested without being said directly : something that is implied

: the fact or state of being involved in or connected to something (such as a crime) : the fact or state of being implicated in something

Full Definition of implication

1. 1 a :  the act of implicating (see implicate):  the state of being implicated b :  close connection; especially :  an incriminating involvement
2. 2 a :  the act of implying :  the state of being implied b (1) :  a logical relation between two propositions that fails to hold only if the first is true and the second is false — see truth table table (2) :  a logical relationship between two propositions in which if the first is true the second is true (3) :  a statement exhibiting a relation of implication
3. 3 :  something implied: as a :  suggestion b :  a possible significance <the book has political implications>

im·pli·ca·tive play \ˈim-plə-ˌkā-tiv, im-ˈpli-kə-\ adjective

im·pli·ca·tive·ly adverb

im·pli·ca·tive·ness noun

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Examples of implication in a sentence

1. … but whereas Updike and Roth work to establish connection and coherence in the face of time's chaos, DeLillo is an artist of diffusion and dispersal, of implication and missing information. —A. O. Scott, New York Times Book Review, 21 May 2006
2. … the power of ideas to transform the world is itself accelerating. Although people readily agree with this observation when simply stated, very few people truly appreciate its profound implications. —Ray Kurzweil, Curious Minds, (2004) 2005
3. … the astronomer Edwin Hubble found that the universe is expanding, and by implication must have originated a finite time ago in an explosion popularly called the big bang. —Paul Davies, The New Physics, 1989
4. I'm offended by his implication that women can't be good at mathematics.
5. He condemned the court and, by implication, the entire legal system.
6. He was shocked by the implication of his partner in the theft.