implicate

UK: /ˈɪmplɪkeɪt/ US: /ˈɪmplɪˌkeɪt/ ,(im′pli kāt′)

Inflections of 'implicate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

implicates

v 3rd person singular

implicating

v pres p

implicated

v past

implicated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

im•pli•cate /ˈɪmplɪˌkeɪt/   v. [~ + object] , -cat•ed, -cat•ing. 

1. to show or declare (someone else) to be involved, usually in committing a crime:
   He was implicated in the robbery.

See -plic-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

im•pli•cate  (im′pli kāt′), v.t., -cat•ed, -cat•ing. 

1. to show to be also involved, usually in an incriminating manner:
   to be implicated in a crime.
2. to imply as a necessary circumstance, or as something to be inferred or understood.
3. to connect or relate to intimately;
   affect as a consequence:
   The malfunctioning of one part of the nervous system implicates another part.
4. [Archaic.] to fold or twist together;
   intertwine;
   interlace.

• Latin implicātus past participle of implicāre to interweave, equivalent. to im- im-¹ + plicā(re) to ply² + -ātus -ate¹
• 1530–40

Synonyms

• 1. See involve. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

implicate / ˈɪmplɪˌkeɪt/ verb (transitive)

1. to show to be involved, esp in a crime
2. to involve as a necessary inference; imply: his protest implicated censure by the authorities
3. to affect intimately: this news implicates my decision
4. to intertwine or entangle

Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin implicāre to involve, from im- + plicāre to fold

implicative / ɪmˈplɪkətɪv/ adjective

imˈplicatively adverb

imˈplicativeness noun