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
That isn’t to say that a 22% haircut wouldn’t inflict serious financial hardship on millions of retirees.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Intervention is more likely if the Houthis inflict significant infrastructure damage or commit a mass-casualty attack, but Riyadh’s precise trigger for escalation is unclear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
“Why did you inflict these annoying children on me?”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
This includes Dolan’s fronting of an embarrassing blues-rock band, often while sporting a fedora, and he inflicts his music on audiences by installing himself as the opener for acts like the Eagles.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 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
There's also the very visible, and seemingly intractable, problem of homelessness, which inflicts misery on the thousands who suffer it and scars the streets of great cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
"Please can we not be a church that inflicts such pain, and that I believe is the fundamental choice at the base of this bill," he added.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
Is humanity worth the pain it inflicts upon itself?
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
I had heard so many stories of real-world harm inflicted on sick and elderly people.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
In the 1950s, New World screwworm infestations inflicted enormous losses on U.S. livestock producers.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
Beggs told the chair: "On 13 June, Nottinghamshire officers and staff attended the scenes of the carnage inflicted by VC quickly and they managed the victims and the evidential scenes well."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
After all the pain Boeing has inflicted on its shareholders and the public, it can’t afford another misstep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Some of the messages were smart-aleck remarks and skull-and-bones by cousins who resented me for getting out of lessons inflicted on them because of me.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
The overstretched will slide into financial distress, inflicting losses on banks and on the private lenders that have proliferated.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 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
The problem for Bolivia was not the heat that mother nature was inflicting on them - it was the heat they were getting from Scotland, who were patient, precise and clinical.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
French lawmakers on Tuesday recognised the state's partial responsibility in allowing a toxic pesticide to be used in the French West Indies despite health warnings, inflicting long-term harm on the islands and their people.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
The injury to Booth’s leg had caused the tissue to swell up and create a seal that could not be broken without inflicting agony upon the patient and possibly worsening the injury.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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.
