Word of the Day

: April 9, 2022

construe

verb kun-STROO

What It Means

Construe means "to analyze the arrangement and connection of words in a sentence" or "to understand or explain the sense or intention of something in a particular way."

// The teacher asked the students to construe the Greek philosopher's statement.

// The website provides medical information but that information should not be construed as a diagnosis.

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construe in Context

"So NFTs … feel strange and novel because normal people don't usually construe monetary value in mere references to everyday things, like a cash-register receipt, or computer data." — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2022

Did You Know?

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."