inflict
/ɪnˈflɪkt/verb
inflict is spelled I-N-F-L-I-C-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, inflict means “To thrust upon; to impose” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in inflict?
| Letters | 7: I-N-F-L-I-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is inflict?
Inflict appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce inflict?
- /ɪnˈflɪkt/
Inflict has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-inflict.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of inflict
- inflicts present, singular, he/she/it
- inflicting participle, present
- inflicted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does inflict mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To thrust upon; to impose.
They inflicted terrible pains on her to obtain a confession.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Inflict in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense thrust upon, impose:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does inflict come from?
From Latin īnflīctus, from in- + flīctus, past participle of īnflīgō (“to knock or strike against”), from in- + flīgō (“strike”) (whence in-).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).