inform
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
informs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
informed,
past participle, past
-
informing
present participle
-
to give or impart knowledge of a fact or circumstance to.
He informed them of his arrival.
-
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.
-
verb (used without object)
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informs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
informed,
past participle, past
-
informing
present participle
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
-
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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half-informingadjective
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informableadjective
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uninformingadjective
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half-informinglyadverb
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informedlyadverb
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informinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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informsimple
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informssimple
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have informedperfect
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has informedperfect
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am informingprogressive
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are informingprogressive
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is informingprogressive
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have been informingperfect progressive
-
has been informingperfect progressive
Past
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informedsimple
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had informedperfect
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was informingprogressive
-
were informingprogressive
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had been informingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
National climate assessments are important because their projections can inform federal infrastructure planning, risk assessments, regulations, disaster preparedness and cost-benefit analyses, including from hazards such as wildfires, floods, drought and sea-level rise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Other merchants, through third-party vendors that verify refund claims, inform individual consumers that their future return claims may be denied based on their patterns of returns, refund requests and frequency of delivery issues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
"We feel responsible for starting to inform society about the rapid and dynamic technological changes which personally frighten us," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters: "I wouldn't announce anything, but when these contacts take place, we will inform you."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
When the truck comes lumbering toward the parking lot, Bob scampers over to inform us.
From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate
And the divergence between his parents’ experiences decades ago still informs the way he lives and operates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
It informs why he thinks he survived being shot five times point-blank: “I believe god saved me,” he said.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Even when there is an accident or mechanical fault, the water guard quickly informs the control room and a rescue boat is deployed in record time," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
This partly informs the team’s forecast for Fed policy through 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
According to our instructions, she informs me, every one of them has to be taken down and polished with the owner’s special polish.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
It was just last month that Jaissle replied "no chance" when Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel informed him that his former side were looking at Hall.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
“You’ve quarreled with everyone,” Wilde’s old friend Frank Harris once despairingly informed Douglas, adding that “you have the most imperious temper I’ve ever met.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Two of his most acclaimed full-length collections, 2002’s “Sea Change” and 2014’s “Morning Phase,” were downcast acoustic offerings steeped in heartbreak and loss informed by both British folk and California country-rock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Bryan Masson, the mayor of the southern town of Cagnes-sur-Mer, said the duo appeared "well equipped and well informed" about the museum housing works by French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
“They don't always follow the rules,” Jason informed her.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
“If they were serious about informing people about how to save lives, they would put the Heimlich maneuver on top of their website.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
The findings suggest that studying the genetics of personality could have implications well beyond psychology, potentially informing research in medicine, health, education and the workplace.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Bond said that after his mother's death he was occupied with informing friends and family and organising the funeral - the house was "the last thing on my mind".
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Whether the added punctuation has the effect the author imagines, she’s not wrong to point out that editorial decisions, once made, tend “to stick, informing how future readers will interpret a story or character.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
She stayed in the stall a long time, until she heard Dr. Schwab on the P.A. system informing everyone that all doors were now unlocked and all students should be in class or risk detention.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
