read into

You think something has a hidden meaning, although there may be no reason to think so.

• Do not read too much into it.
• She read criticism into his silence.
• Are we reading hidden messages into an ordinary photograph?

How to use it: read something into something (Do not read anger into her short reply.); read too much into something (He read too much into my smile.)

Similar words: overinterpret

Common phrases: read into something, read much into something

You tell someone secret details about a plan or situation.

• They read me into the project.
• Only two officers were read into the operation.
• Has the new adviser been read into the plan?

How to use it: read someone into something (They read the officer into the secret operation.)

Similar words: brief, inform

Common phrases: read someone into something, read into operations

A court treats a law as including words or ideas that are not actually written in it.

• The judge read that right into the law.
• Courts sometimes read missing words into a statute.
• Can this protection be read into the existing legislation?

How to use it: read something into something (The court read an extra protection into the statute.)

Common phrases: read into legislation, read words into something