Learn English – ‘infer’ vs ‘extrapolate’

synonymsverbs

The two examples are taken from OALD:

We have extrapolated these results from research done in other
countries.

The results cannot be extrapolated to other patient groups.

Could I substitute infer for extrapolate here? I think they are synonyms. Any nuances implied?

Best Answer

It might help to see "extrapolate" as a sub-type of "infer."

"Infer" can refer to small abductions that aren't always as well supported. One can infer emotions in the speaker, but not extrapolate emotions. It's not uncommon for a heated discussion to feature an accusation of "You implied (X)!" and response of "I did not! You inferred that!"

"Extrapolate" generally refers to statistical or logical inferences and tends to indicate a more scientific and controlled context. The product of extrapolation (the extrapolated information) is generally larger quantitatively or qualitatively, whereas "infer" can be is more limited. The etymology of "extrapolate" points to looking at patterns within some set and reproducing those patterns outside the set as a prediction, which should reinforce that "extrapolate" is a term used in more logical and quantitative speech.