- To offer for consideration or action; propose: suggest things for children to do; suggested that we take a walk.
- To bring or call to mind by logic or association; evoke: a cloud that suggests a mushroom; a ringlike symbol suggesting unity.
- To make evident indirectly; intimate or imply: a silence that suggested disapproval.
- To serve as or provide a motive for; prompt or demand: Such a crime suggests apt punishment.
[Latin suggerere, suggest- : sub-, up; see sub– + gerere, to carry.]
suggester sug·gest'er n.SYNONYMS suggest, imply, hint, intimate, insinuate. These verbs mean to convey thoughts or ideas by indirection. Suggest refers to the calling of something to mind as the result of an association of ideas: “his erect and careless attitude suggesting assurance and power” (Joseph Conrad). To imply is to suggest a thought or an idea by letting it be inferred from something else, such as a statement, that is more explicit: The effusive praise the professor heaped on one of the students seemed to imply disapproval of the rest. Hint refers to an oblique or covert suggestion that often contains clues: My imagination supplied the explanation you only hinted at. Intimate applies to indirect, subtle expression that often reflects discretion, tact, or reserve: She intimated that her neighbors were having marital problems. To insinuate is to suggest something, usually something unpleasant, in a covert, sly, and underhanded manner: The columnist insinuated that the candidate raised money unethically.
