imputation
imputation — noun
- imputationsingular
- imputationsplural
1. A claim, often made without solid evidence, that someone has done something wron
A claim, often made without solid evidence, that someone has done something wrong or has a bad personal quality.
The journalist denied the imputation that she had invented the story for money.
imputation + that-clause for rejected accusation
Tomás faced an imputation of theft from his neighbours after the window was broken.
imputation of [crime/bad quality]
An imputation of laziness spread through the office after Bao's report arrived three days late.
Jisoo's colleagues made unfair imputations about her work without checking the facts first.
The committee rejected any imputation that its members had acted with dishonesty.
- accusation
more general; an imputation is a type of accusation but suggests less direct or provable blame
- insinuation
emphasises an indirect or subtle suggestion, while imputation can be more direct
文法句型
imputation + of + noun phrase
imputation + that-clause
用法筆記
Frequently used in negative or defensive contexts (reject, deny, face, unfair imputation). The word itself carries a tone of unfairness — an imputation is typically an accusation made without proof.
常見錯誤
2. The act of believing or stating that a particular quality, event, or work comes
The act of believing or stating that a particular quality, event, or work comes from a specific person, place, or cause.
The historian's imputation of the painting to a French artist from the 1600s was widely accepted.
imputation of [work] to [creator]
Scholars still argue about the imputation of this unsigned poem to the writer Emily Dickinson.
In tax law, the imputation of company profits to individual owners can affect how much they pay.
There was a clear imputation of blame to the night guard in the official accident report.
The judge rejected the imputation of responsibility to the driver, since the road was badly lit.
- attribution
near-synonym; more common in everyday academic writing, while imputation is slightly more formal and often implies an external assessment
- ascription
very close synonym, also used in philosophy and theology; slightly less common
文法句型
imputation + of + noun + to + noun
imputation + to + noun
用法筆記
Most common in academic, legal, and formal writing. Often appears in the pattern 'imputation of X to Y' where X is a quality or work and Y is the attributed source. This sense is distinct from sense 1 because it is neutral — the attribution may be true or false, but the word does not carry the same 'unfair accusation' tone.