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Glite Dictionary
inferentially

inferentially

8.2
Using careful thought and signs instead of seeing something directly
  • adverb
  • /ˌɪnfəˈrɛnʃəli/
  • Formal
translation icon : inferencialmente
  • You can understand the story inferentially by reading between the lines.

Examples

  • Data were examined inferentially to determine if differences existed on the study variables of interest by age, gender, or educational status.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Still, the hypothesis can be tested inferentially.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Elsewhere in the narrative, "black" and "white" are present inferentially.

    Academic text (2018)

  • An answer can be drawn inferentially; however, the general trend is alarming.

    Blog text (31)

  • Thus, inferentially, player as well as team performance could dictate future roster shakeups.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Individuals do have differing capacities—to read inferentially, to think creatively, to apply appropriately, and even to memorize comprehensively.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Data were analyzed and reported descriptively (e.g., frequencies and percentages) and inferentially with Chi-square analysis test of association (Statistical Package of Social Science SPSS, 1998).

    Academic text (2003)

  • Furthermore, data were aggregated by group and type of group (community-based versus pediatric acute care) and analyzed inferentially to determine whether any significant differences existed between groups on demographic variables and study variables.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Researchers can inferentially analyze the results to draw meaningful conclusions.

  • The detective inferentially pieced together the clues to solve the mystery.

How Inferential

inferentially
  • Formal
8.2
directly
∞ 1.9

Surface Forms

inferentially positive

Morphology

inferentially = inferential (transparent) = infer + inferential + ly

Standard adjective-to-adverb formation ('inferential' + '-ly') yielding a manner adverb whose meaning is predictable.

Etymology

Inferentially comes from infer, which is made of in- 'into' and fer 'carry', so it originally meant 'bring in' and you can see the same root in transfer ('to carry across'). So, to do something inferentially is to 'bring in' facts and use reasoning to reach a conclusion rather than seeing it directly.