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Construe comes from the Latin verb construere, meaning "to construct." There is also misconstrue, meaning "to put a wrong construction (that is, a wrong interpretation) on" or "to misinterpret."
Did you know?
Construe can usually be translated as "interpret". It's often used in law; thus, an Attorney General might construe the term "serious injury" in a child-abuse law to include bruises, or a judge might construe language about gifts to "heirs" to include spouses. The IRS's construal of some of your activities might be different from your own—and much more expensive at tax time. Construing is also close to translating; so when the British say "public school", for instance, it should be construed or translated as "prep school" in American terms.
Synonyms
Examples of construe in a Sentence
Katie Stockton, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024
Moreover, this fiat couldn’t be construed as anything but personal and punitive; after all, the diaries are available both at Cornell and at the British Library, where my own literary papers are archived—so, freely available to anyone who should wish to novelize their mother’s life.
—Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
This material should not be construed as a recommendation, or advice or an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any investment.
—Katie Stockton, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2024
Mike Jay, a historian and the author of Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind, told me that the effects of a psychedelic analogue may be construed as either trips or side effects, depending on when and how people experience them.
—Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Construe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/construe. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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