inflect

[ in-flekt ]

See synonyms for inflect on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to alter, adapt, or modulate (the voice).
to alter or adapt in tone or character: the power of storytelling inflected through a feminist sensibility; jazz-inflected music.

Grammar.
- to apply inflection to (a word).
- to recite or display all or a distinct set of the inflections of (a word); decline or conjugate.
to bend; turn from a direct line or course.
Botany. to bend in.

verb (used without object)

Grammar. to be characterized by inflection.

Origin of inflect

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English inflecten, from Latin inflectere “to bend in,” equivalent to in-in-² + flectere “to bend, curve”; cf. flex¹

Other words from inflect

in·flect·ed·ness, noun
in·flec·tive, adjective
in·flec·tor, noun
non·in·flect·ed, adjective
un·in·flect·ed, adjective
un·in·flec·tive, adjective

Words Nearby inflect

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use inflect in a sentence

Your cultureSo many key maternal variables — a spouse’s role, the distance to the nearest grandparent — are socially inflected.
What makes one mom different from another | Abigail Tucker | June 4, 2021 | Washington Post
The Aces’ locker room, full again, rings with Cambage’s Aussie-inflected jokes and preemptive boasts.
A’ja Wilson had a rebirth, Liz Cambage is healthy, and Las Vegas is among the WNBA favorites | Robert O'Connell | May 13, 2021 | Washington Post
Now it would have been absurd to inflect a long English lesson.
Rites and Ritual | Philip Freeman
(e) To memorize words and to learn to inflect them, before memorizing and learning how to construct sentences.
The Principles of Language-Study | Harold E. Palmer
And we yet retain an objective case of the pronoun, and inflect it for person, number and gender.
The American Language | Henry L. Mencken

Can you so inflect "sprawling in want" and "sitting high" as to suggest a swamp and a mountain-top, or a frog and an angel?
Vocal Expression | Katherine Jewell Everts
Query to the class: How did the lady inflect the word Yes to call forth the injunction, Read it again?
Vocal Expression | Katherine Jewell Everts

British Dictionary definitions for inflect

inflect

/ (ɪnˈflɛkt) /

verb

(grammar) to change (the form of a word) or (of a word) to change in form by inflection
(tr) to change (the voice) in tone or pitch; modulate

(tr) to cause to deviate from a straight or normal line or course; bend

Origin of inflect

C15: from Latin inflectere to curve round, alter, from flectere to bend

Derived forms of inflect

inflectedness, noun
inflective, adjective
inflector, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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