inform
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to give or impart knowledge of a fact or circumstance to.
He informed them of his arrival.
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to supply (oneself) with knowledge of a matter or subject.
She informed herself of all the pertinent facts.
- Synonyms:
- acquaint
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to give evident substance, character, or distinction to; pervade or permeate with manifest effect.
A love of nature informed his writing.
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to animate or inspire.
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Obsolete.
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to train or instruct.
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to make known; disclose.
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to give or impart form to.
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verb (used without object)
verb phrase
adjective
verb
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(tr; often foll by of or about) to give information to; tell
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(tr; often foll by of or about) to make conversant (with)
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(intr; often foll by against or on) to give information regarding criminals, as to the police, etc
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to give form to
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to impart some essential or formative characteristic to
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(tr) to animate or inspire
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obsolete (tr)
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to train or educate
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to report
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adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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informedlyadverb
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half-informinglyadverb
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informableadjective
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informinglyadverb
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uninformingadjective
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half-informingadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has informedperfect 3rd person singular
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have informedperfect
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am informingprogressive 1st person singular
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are informingprogressive
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informingparticiple
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is informingprogressive 3rd person singular
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informssingular 3rd person
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have been informingperfect progressive
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has been informingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had informedperfect
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informedsimple
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was informingprogressive singular
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informedparticiple
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had been informingperfect progressive
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were informingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of inform1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English enfo(u)rmen, informen, from Old French enfo(u)rmer, from Latin infōrmāre “to form, shape,” equivalent to in- in- 2 + fōrmāre “to form ”
Origin of inform2
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin informis “formless, deformed,” equivalent to in- in- 3 + -formis -form
Explanation
To inform is to tell someone news, pass on wisdom, leak gossip, or give instruction. You've been informed that you won the raffle at the county fair. What are you going to do with all that cheese? The Latin verb infōrmāre means "to form or shape." The idea of passing on knowledge came about in the 14th Century, with the meaning of "teaching or instructing" coming later. Thomas Jefferson, who believed democracy to be impossible without informed citizens, said, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”
Vocabulary lists containing inform
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Shape Up: Form
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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.
But luckily, he said, the park has a robust “ecological baseline,” which includes two decades of population monitoring, species documentation and vegetation inventories that can help guide and inform next steps.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
The project will inform its strategy in other emerging markets like Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, McNamara added.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
"With increasing numbers of women taking part in sport across the UK, there is an urgent need for research focused specifically on women to help inform future policies, safety guidance and sporting protocols," he said.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
These questions inform the emergence of space-time itself and radical new proposals that treat it as the universe’s memory.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
Whereas my goal was to keep it a secret, hers was to inform the entire class.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
