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Definition of "inflect" [in•flect]

  • To alter (the voice) in tone or pitch; modulate. (verb-transitive)
  • Grammar To alter (a word) by inflection. (verb-transitive)
  • To turn from a course or a specified alignment; bend. (verb-transitive)
  • Grammar To be modified by inflection. (verb-intransitive)
  • Grammar To give all of the inflected forms of a word; to provide a paradigm. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "inflect" in a sentence
  • "Just be careful how you inflect the acronym of that organization."
  • "They often use primitive weapons rocks, blunt objects and machetes to conserve their limited munitions and inflect maximum brutality."
  • ""If I could inflect pain, I inflicted it to the max," Gore declared, describing how he had scalped several victims to satisfy a hair fetish."