read (someone or something) as (someone or something)

read (someone or something) as (someone or something)

To form a particular interpretation or understanding of someone's or something's inherent nature. Because of my neutral accent, most people read me as being from the Midwest, when I actually grew up in the Bronx. A: "Didn't you think that scene was in bad taste?" B: "Huh, I read it as a satire, so I assumed that was the point." I read the story as an allegory of the dangers inherent in a plutocracy.

See also: read

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

read someone or something as something

to interpret someone or something as something. I read you as a quiet guy who wants to settle down and have kids. Mary read the problem as one that did not require a lot of understanding.

See also: read

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.