Meaning & use
implied contract
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Meaning
nouncountablelegal
An agreement that the law recognizes from the conduct of the people involved, even though they never spoke or wrote its terms.
Grammar: Countable: an implied contract, several implied contracts.
Patterns
- an implied contract between someone and someone
- create an implied contract
By sitting down and ordering, you form an implied contract to pay for the meal.
The court found an implied contract between the clinic and the patient.
An implied contract can arise when a worker keeps doing a job with the boss's knowledge.
Word forms
| plural | implied contracts |
|---|
Common combinations
- create an implied contract
- Regular payments can create an implied contract.
- breach an implied contract
- The employer was accused of breaching an implied contract.
- claim an implied contract
- The plumber claimed an implied contract for the extra work.
- an implied contract exists
- An implied contract exists when both sides act as if they had agreed.
- implied contract of employment
- The judge discussed the implied contract of employment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- implied agreement
- Implied agreement is a looser, everyday phrase, while implied contract is the legal term for something a court will enforce.
- unwritten contract
- Unwritten contract can include a spoken agreement that was clearly expressed, whereas an implied contract is inferred from actions.
- tacit agreement
- A tacit agreement is understood without being stated, and is used in ordinary and formal speech, but it does not always carry legal weight.
- quasi-contract
- A quasi-contract is created by a court to prevent unfair gain even when no agreement existed, while an implied contract rests on conduct that shows agreement.
Opposites
Word family
- imply verb
- to suggest something without saying it directly
- implication noun
- something suggested or understood without being stated
- implicit adjective
- understood though not stated openly
- contractual adjective
- relating to a contract
Commonly confused: implied contract or express contract?
implied contract vs express contract
An express contract has its terms stated in words, spoken or written, while an implied contract is inferred from what the parties do.
Practice
Which situation most likely creates an implied contract?
Choose one answer.
By ordering and eating, you show you agree to pay, so the law treats this as an implied contract. The other actions do not show agreement to a deal.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “implied contract”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.