MEANING
1. To attribute a motive, fault, or quality to someone, often without direct proof.
2. To assign an estimated value where an amount is missing, unobserved, or not directly paid or priced.
Use it for
claims about intention; attribution of responsibility; handling incomplete dataFlag an attribution or an estimated replacement rather than a known fact.
Words that belong together
- impute motives
- impute blame
- impute missing values
On the page
We should not impute dishonesty to a student merely because the answer changed.
Missing income values were imputed using a documented statistical model.
The commentator imputes nationalist motives to a decision the minister called administrative.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- impute / imputes
- Past tense
- imputed
- Past participle
- imputed
- Present participle
- imputing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- impute / imputes
- Present continuous
- am/is/are imputing
- Present perfect
- have/has imputed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been imputing
- Past
- imputed
- Past continuous
- was/were imputing
- Past perfect
- had imputed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been imputing
- Future
- will impute / imputes
- Future continuous
- will be imputing
- Future perfect
- will have imputed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been imputing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic. The attribution sense often carries blame, unlike neutral ascribe. Statistical imputation estimates missing values; it is neither direct observation nor ordinary data input. Verb inflections [base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing]: impute, imputes, imputed, imputed, imputing. Derived family (not inflections): imputation.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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