sə(g)ˈjest verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin suggestus, past participle of suggerere to put under, heap up, furnish, suggest, from sub- + gerere to bear, wage — more at cast
transitive verb
1. : to put (as an idea, proposition, or impulse) into the mind: as
a. obsolete
(1) : to seek to influence the mind of : urge
two spirits do suggest me still — Shakespeare
(2) : to insinuate especially an evil or false thought into the mind of : tempt , seduce
what serpent hath suggested thee — Shakespeare
b. : to call forth (as a desire or mood) : arouse , evoke
indirectly suggest the desired attitude — Dorothy Barclay
the pleasant voice that enticed and suggested the most improbable falsehoods from witnesses — Rose Macaulay
c. : to mention (something) as a possibility : put foward by implication : hint , intimate
suggest that a change of government is necessary
suggest strongly … that he bring his wife along for the interview — W.H.Whyte
d. : to propose (something) as desirable or fitting
suggest a stroll after lunch
suggested several thesis subjects
suggested … a special committee to work on plans for a possible settlement — New Republic
e. : to offer (as an idea or theory) for consideration : present as a hypothesis : theorize
this, I suggest , is what happened
suggested the conception of poetry as a living whole — T.S.Eliot
suggests other reasons why music is powerful in the building … of personality — H.A.Overstreet
2.
a. : to call or bring to mind (as an idea, mood, or object) by a process of logical thought or natural association of ideas : give rise to the idea of : evoke
the explosion … suggested sabotage — F.L.Paxson
the scientist suggests an ant, putting forth great efforts to lug one … apparently unimportant grain of sand — Oliver La Farge
a setting which is brilliantly suggested — Times Literary Supplement
the folk customs that suggest themselves for study — Phyllis Greenacre
b. : to serve as an incentive, motive, or reason for : inspire , prompt
a short story suggested by an actual incident
television may suggest new forms and expression — Leslie Rees
this incident suggests significant reflections — M.R.Cohen
physical comfort … suggests that students shall occupy alternate seats — College of William & Mary Cat.
3. : to give an indication or impression of : imply the presence of : adumbrate , shadow
open gambling that suggested collusion with public officials
his impulsive gestures suggested a passion he had never shown to her — Morley Callaghan
admirable works, yet they suggested … aloofness from the sordid realities — V.L.Parrington
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to work insidiously upon a person's mind : tempt
devils … do suggest at first with heavenly shows — Shakespeare
2. : to arouse ideas or feelings by a process of association
Synonyms:
imply , hint , intimate , insinuate : suggest may involve communicating or implanting an idea by calling attention to some notion likely to be associated with it by starting a mental association naturally leading to the notion in question
the business of words in prose is primarily to state; in poetry, not only to state, but also (and sometimes primarily) to suggest — J.L.Lowes
a steamer on the Thames or lines of telegraph inevitably suggest the benefits of civilization, man's triumph over Nature — L.P.Smith
imply is close to suggest in denotation and connotation; it differs in seeming to require more analytical or systematic inference to grasp the implied meaning
had always implied that there had been something irregular in Dr. Winter's accounts — Edith Wharton
an era when the scientific point of view no longer implies this determinism — Edmund Wilson
hint refers to communication by slight, indirect, or covert suggestion, with a minimum of straightforward implicit expression
as thou with wary speech … hast hinted — John Keats
repeatedly hinted at in political thought — Alex Comfort
intimate may stress delicacy as contrasted with blunt forthrightness in expression
intimated that there had been danger in his coming just then — Arnold Bennett
“I never put it so strong as that,” said the old lady, looking rather shocked. She had intimated as much many times — Archibald Marshall
insinuate often indicates covert indirect reference artfully introduced and usually calculated to depreciate or denigrate
the insinuated scoff of coward tongues — William Wordsworth
the voice that insinuates that Jews and Negroes and Catholics are inferior excrescences on our body politic — Max Lerner