inflect
Americanverb (used with object)
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to alter, adapt, or modulate (the voice).
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to alter or adapt in tone or character: jazz-inflected music.
the power of storytelling inflected through a feminist sensibility;
jazz-inflected music.
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Grammar.
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to apply inflection to (a word).
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to recite or display all or a distinct set of the inflections of (a word); decline or conjugate.
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to bend; turn from a direct line or course.
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Botany. to bend in.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(grammar) to change (the form of a word) or (of a word) to change in form by inflection
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(tr) to change (the voice) in tone or pitch; modulate
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(tr) to cause to deviate from a straight or normal line or course; bend
Other Word Forms
- inflectedness noun
- inflective adjective
- inflector noun
- noninflected adjective
- uninflected adjective
- uninflective adjective
Etymology
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”; flex 1
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.
Frank, formerly a member of the pop duo Surfaces, has exploded in the past year by making Christian music that pairs hip-hop inflected beats with relentlessly sunny lyrics.
Cat shares, again, typically trade at a discount to the market, although the stock’s price-to-earnings ratio tends to be highest before its cyclical earnings inflect higher.
From Barron's
The carrier said Wednesday that demand inflected positively in early July and maintained momentum in the ensuing months, pushing total operating revenue up 1.1% to a third-quarter record of $6.95 billion.
As historian Anthea Butler has argued, “racism inflected almost every point of evangelicalism along the way.”
From Salon
He inflects Hamlet’s glorious speeches with modern color but little meaning.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
