implicate
v.to suggest that someone is responsible for something bad without saying it directly. You use this when a fact or a story makes you think a person did something wrong.
v.to suggest or indicate that someone is responsible for a particular action or event without explicitly stating it. Often used in legal or philosophical contexts to describe the logical connection between evidence and a suspect.
“The evidence implicates him in the crime.”
“The witness's testimony implicates several high-ranking officials in the cover-up.”
“While the data does not directly prove guilt, it strongly implicates the company in the environmental disaster by showing a clear pattern of negligence.”
Usage implicate in
“Researchers have previously found this small structure to be heavily implicated in alcohol use disorder symptoms such as anxiety and depression.”
“Its recommendations included making punitive damages available in England and Wales in cases where corporate illegality is implicated in death.”
First attested in the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English implicaten (poorly attested), from implicat(e) (“wrapped, entwined; involved, connected (with)”, possibly also used as the past participle of implicaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin implicātus, perfect passive participle of implicō (“to entangle, involve”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from plicō (“to fold”). Doublet of imply and employ.
First attested in the first part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English implicat(e) (“wrapped, entwined; incolved, connected (with)”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix), -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.