inflict
Americanverb (used with object)
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inflicts,
present (3rd person singular)
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inflicted,
past participle, past
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inflicting
present participle
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to impose as something that must be borne or suffered.
to inflict punishment.
-
to impose (anything unwelcome).
The regime inflicted burdensome taxes on the people.
-
to deal or deliver, as a blow.
verb
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to impose (something unwelcome, such as pain, oneself, etc)
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rare to cause to suffer; afflict (with)
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to deal out (blows, lashes, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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inflicternoun
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inflictionnoun
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inflictornoun
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preinflictverb (used with object)
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inflictableadjective
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inflictiveadjective
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uninflictedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inflictsimple
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inflictssimple
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have inflictedperfect
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has inflictedperfect
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am inflictingprogressive
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are inflictingprogressive
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is inflictingprogressive
-
have been inflictingperfect progressive
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has been inflictingperfect progressive
Past
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inflictedsimple
-
had inflictedperfect
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was inflictingprogressive
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were inflictingprogressive
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had been inflictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of inflict
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin inflīctus, past participle of inflīgere “to strike or dash against,” equivalent to in- “in” + flīg- (stem of flīgere “to beat down”) + -tus past participle suffix; see in- 2
Explanation
When you force an undesirable or harmful event on someone, you inflict it on them. You might prefer that someone inflict some physical pain on you rather than inflict you with the boredom of another trip to the annual flower show. The verb inflict comes from the Latin word inflictus, meaning “to strike or dash against.” If you cause anything bad to happen to a person, animal, or even an object, you inflict that badness on them. For example, someone can inflict injuries or suffering on other people or inflict damage on property. We can inflict pollution or over-development on our environment. It's always a negative thing — you wouldn't say you inflict happiness or love on others.
Vocabulary lists containing inflict
The Bill of Rights
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Metamorphosis
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Aware of the damage that Thomas could inflict on her young career, Hill was determined to do what she could to salvage an extraordinary legal opportunity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Having also beaten the Belarusian to win this year's Australian Open title, Rybakina now has the opportunity to inflict further damage.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The efforts by both sides to inflict economic damage on each other put them further from the diplomatic off-ramp they appeared to reach with the deal in June.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
That isn’t to say that a 22% haircut wouldn’t inflict serious financial hardship on millions of retirees.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
In all the times I’d imagined the miseries she could inflict on me, I’d never imagined this.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
The blame for any harm the technology inflicts should lay with its creators.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
But more than 20 charities in both countries have said the French-British deal inflicts "further harm on people who have already survived war, torture, persecution, violence, human trafficking, and a treacherous sea journey".
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
What inflicts the damage is not so much plausibility in the abstract as repetition inside intimacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
More experienced managers than relative rookie Rosenior have struggled to survive the mayhem and unique pressures that life at Chelsea inflicts.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
Is humanity worth the pain it inflicts upon itself?
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
In the 1950s, New World screwworm infestations inflicted enormous losses on U.S. livestock producers.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
But this is how discovery works: If you claim a broadcast inflicted extraordinary economic harm, the defendant gets to test that claim.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Aides have helped sell him on the strategy by showing him data on the damage that sanctions have already inflicted on the regime, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
He says the modern digital world often leaves us inflicted by decision paralysis, external - the inability to choose because there are so many options.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
When Walt’s double life came to light, the revelations inflicted deep wounds.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
The overstretched will slide into financial distress, inflicting losses on banks and on the private lenders that have proliferated.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
They hoped they'd left the Champions League drawing board behind, but they're right back where they were when Kairat and Midtjylland and Ferencvaros and Cluj and AEK were the ones inflicting the pain.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
In 2025, Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica, inflicting damage worth $8.8 billion, or 41% of the island’s annual gross domestic product.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Last week Takaichi said that the global oil supply squeeze was inflicting an "enormous impact" on the Asia-Pacific region.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
He must only guard against inflicting serious injury on anyone who serves him and anyone he has near him in the service of his principality, as Antoninus had done.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
