Inflict

Definition: Inflict

Inflict

Verb

1. Impose something unpleasant: "The principal visited his rage on the students".

Date "inflict" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Note: Inflict \In*flict"\, transitive verb. [imperative past participle Inflicted; present participle verb or noun Inflicting.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: Inflict

Synonyms: bring down (v), impose (v), visit (v). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Action	Verb: do, perform, execute; achieve; (complete); transact, enact; commit, perpetrate, inflict; exercise, prosecute, carry on, work, practice, play.
Inexpedience	Verb: be hurtful; Adjective: cause evil, produce evil, inflict evil, work evil, do evil; damnify, endamage, hurt, harm; injure; (damage); pain.
Pain	Verb: cause pain, occasion pain, give pain, bring pain, induce pain, produce pain, create pain, inflict pain; pain, hurt, wound.
Physical Pain	Give pain, inflict pain; lacerate; pain, hurt, chafe, sting, bite, gnaw, gripe; pinch, tweak; grate, gall, fret, prick, pierce, wring, convulse; torment, torture; rack, agonize; crucify; cruciate, excruciate; break on the wheel, put to the rack; flog. (punish); grate on the ear. (harsh sound).
Punishment	Verb: punish; chastise, chasten; castigate, correct, inflict punishment, administer correction, deal retributive justice; cowhide, lambaste.
Severity	Assume, usurp, arrogate, take liberties; domineer, bully; tyrannize, inflict, wreak, stretch a point, put on the screw; be hard upon; bear a heavy hand on, lay a heavy hand on; be down upon, come down upon; ill treat; deal hardly with, deal hard measure to; rule with a rod of iron, chastise with scorpions; dye with blood; oppress, override; trample under foot; tread under foot, tread upon, trample upon, tread down upon, trample down upon; crush under an iron heel, ride roughshod over; rivet the yoke; hold a tight hand, keep a tight hand; force down the throat; coerce; give no quarter; (pitiless) a.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Never show weakness, the only pain that matters is the pain you inflict. (Varsity Blues; writing credit: W. Peter Iliff)
Clever	The willow knows what the storm does not: The power to endure harm outlives the power to inflict it. (references; author: unknown)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	The Happiness Project: The Three Poisons That Cause the Suffering We Inflict on Ourselves and Others (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Poison hairs covering this caterpillar can inflict a painful sting.Credit: CDC.		U.S. forces inflict heavy casualties on Japs in capture of Buna, New Guinea. A 37 mm. gun crew, part of a U.S. Army tank force in New Guinea, fires at an objective at Buna Mission. Empty shells, heaped hurriedly in the foreground, indicate intensity of fi.Credit: Library of Congress.
	U.S. forces inflict heavy casualties on Japs in capture of Buna, New Guinea. Palm trees and branches lie strewn on the shell-churned soil of Buna Village, New Guinea, in the wake of the Japanese retreat before U.S. and Australian forces. The Japs were com.Credit: Library of Congress.		U.S. forces inflict heavy casualties on Japs in capture of Buna, New Guinea. On the beach of Buna Mission, last point of Japanese resistance in the Papuan section of New Guinea, the bodies of slain Japanese soldiers lie a few steps from their shattered la.Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Title	Author	Quote
Scarlet Letter	Hawthorne, Nathaniel	But then, again, an accustomed eye had likewise its own anguish to inflict.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Children	Benin	Some traditional practices inflict hardship and violence on children, including most prominently the custom of "vidomegon," whereby poor, often rural, families place a child, primarily a daughter, in the home of a more wealthy family to avoid the burden the child represents to the parental family. (references)
Civil Liberties	Nepal	The ANNISU-R and other Maoist groups extort money from private schools and teachers and sometimes inflict physical punishment on school officials who are deemed inefficient or who have defied their demands. (references)
Economic History	Haiti	Bonds to release assets frozen incident to litigation are unavailable, and judges sometimes inflict their biases against commercial litigants through the application of "public order" policy concepts. (references)
Human Rights	Cameroon	Some high-profile prisoners are able to avoid some of the abuse that security forces routinely inflict on many common criminals. (references)
	Kuwait	Police and security forces were more likely to inflict such abuse on noncitizens, particularly non-Gulf Arabs and Asians, than on citizens. (references)
	Egypt	Abuse of power to inflict cruelty against persons is punishable by imprisonment of no more than 1 year or a fine of no more than $29 (125 Egyptian pounds). (references)
Political Economy	Bangladesh	While business has partially adjusted to the hartal culture prevalent in the country, the disruptions inflict a severe cost on the economy and on individual businesses. (references)
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	CONTROVERSY, n. A battle in which spittle or ink replaces the injurious cannon-ball and the inconsiderate bayonet. In controversy with the facile tongue -- That bloodless warfare of the old and young -- So seek your adversary to engage That on himself he shall exhaust his rage, And, like a snake that's fastened to the ground, With his own fangs inflict the fatal wound. You ask me how this miracle is done? Adopt his own opinions, one by one, And taunt him to refute them; in his wrath He'll sweep them pitilessly from his path. Advance then gently all you wish to prove, Each proposition prefaced with, "As you've So well remarked," or, "As you wisely say, And I cannot dispute," or, "By the way, This view of it which, better far expressed, Runs through your argument." Then leave the rest To him, secure that he'll perform his trust And prove your views intelligent and just. Conmore Apel Brune
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
James K. Polk	1845-1849	To reverse this principle and make 'protection' the 'object' and 'revenue' the 'incident' would be to inflict manifest injustice upon all other than the protected interests.
James Buchanan	1857-1861	Reasoned estimates have been presented of the pecuniary profits and local advantages which would result to different States and sections from its dissolution and of the comparative injuries which such an event would inflict on other States and sections.
Calvin Coolidge	1923-1929	We can not finance the country, we can not improve social conditions, through any system of injustice, even if we attempt to inflict it upon the rich.
Dwight Eisenhower	1953-1961	This trial comes at a moment when man's power to achieve good or to inflict evil surpasses the brightest hopes and the sharpest fears of all ages.
Ronald Reagan	1981-1989	Every blow we inflict against poverty will be a blow against its dark allies of oppression and war.
George W. Bush	2001-2005	Work at testing and production facilities shows that Iraq is building more long-range missiles that it can inflict mass death throughout the region.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Inflict" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 82.47% of the time. "Inflict" is used about 308 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Lexical Verb (infinitive)	82.47%	254	18,599
Lexical Verb (base form)	14.61%	45	50,900
Noun (singular)	2.92%	9	117,287
Total	100.00%	308	N/A

Expressions using "inflict": inflict a blow on ♦ inflict a defeat ♦ inflict a wound ♦ inflict oneself ♦ inflict oneself on smb. ♦ inflict oneself upon smb. ♦ inflict pain. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "inflict"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		imponoj (enforce, impose, intrude, obtrude), vë (apply, attach, contract, deposit, direct, establish, get in, get on, impose, instal, install, instate, lay, lay down, locate, mislay, place, plant, pull on, put, set, settle, shut, stand, station, stick, Stow), sjell (adduce, bear, beget, bring, carry, cause, draw, engender, fetch, induce, return), shkaktoj (afflict, arouse, beget, breed, bring about, call forth, cause, contrive, create, do, draw, effectuate, engender, evoke, give, incur, induce, inspire, move, procure, produce, put, raise, sow, start, stir, strike, unchain, work, wreak), jap një dackë. (various references)

Arabic		‏وجع (ache, ail, distress, fell, gripe, pain, soreness, wrench), ‏سدد ضربة (plant, smite), ‏ألم (ache, distress, hurt, infirmity, misery, pain, smart, soreness, sufferance, suffering, wrench), ‏أصاب (bilge, blast, come, get, hit, infect, pick off, shoot, strike). (various references)

Bulgarian		нанасям (deal, deliver, land, lay, plant), налагам (enforce, enjoin, force, force upon, hammer, inculcate, indicate, levy, necessitate, predicate, punish, ramrod, superimpose, thrust, thrust on, towel, wallop), причинявам (bring, bring about, bring forth, cause, create, do, effect, engender, generate, induce, make, procure, produce, putrefy, set off, set up, throw down, work, work up). (various references)

Chinese		给予 (impart, Imparted, imparting, Inflicted, Inflicting). (various references)

Czech		zpùsobit (bring about, cause, entail, make, raise, wreak), zasadit (bed, deliver, enroot, fit in, implant, lay on, set), uvalit (lay), uložit (bestow, collocate, deposit, ensconce, house, impose, input, keep, land with, pack off, place, put to bed, save, seat, Stow). (various references)

Dutch		moedwillig schade toebrengen (to inflict damage intentionnaly, to inflict damage on purpose), een straf uitspreken (to impose a penalty, to inflict a penalty), de zwaarste straf opleggen (to inflict the heaviest penalty provided). (various references)

Farsi		تحمیل کردن (Burden, Constrain, Impose, Protrude, Saddle, Task), ضربت وارداوردن , ضربت زدن (Bob, Hammer, Jow, Sock, Strike). (various references)

Finnish		iskeä haava (inflict a wound), tuomita rangaistus (to impose a penalty, to inflict a penalty), tuomita ankarimpaan laissa määrättyyn rangaistukseen (to inflict the heaviest penalty provided), haavoittaa (chipping, freshening, inflict a wound, wound). (various references)

French		infliger, lancer un coup, faire souffrir, faire mal, donner un coup. (various references)

German		zufügen (activate, add, be added, cause, give rise to, to inflict). (various references)

Greek		καταφέρω (accomplish, deal), επιβάλλω (enforce, establish, fine, impose, institute, mete, necessitate, wreak). (various references)

Hungarian		okoz (beget, bred, bring about, bring forth, cause, gave, give rise to, given, to breed, to bring forth, to effect, to engender, to generate, to give, to inchoate, to induce, to inflict, to motivate, to occasion, to produce, to provoke), kiró (assess, to impose, to inflict, to lay on, to levy), ad (accord, administer, bestow, gave, give, hand, provide, to afford, to allot, to concede, to contribute, to extend, to furnish, to gift, to indenture, to inflict, to provide, to render). (various references)

Indonesian		membedakan (differentiate, discriminate, distinguish). (various references)

Italian		infliggere. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		� わせる (to charge someone with a duty, to inflict injury on someone, to lay resonsibility on someone, to make someone carry something, to put something on someone's back), 苦しめる (to harass, to inflict pain, to torment), 科する (to impose, to inflict), � える (to add, to append, to include, to increase, to inflict, to sum up). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		おわせる (to charge someone with a duty, to inflict injury on someone, to lay resonsibility on someone, to make someone carry something, to put something on someone's back), くわえる (to add, to append, to hold in one's mouth, to include, to increase, to inflict, to sum up), くるしめる (to harass, to inflict pain, to torment), かする (to be reduced, to become blurred, to change into, to convert into, to exploit, to graze, to impose, to improve, to inflict, to influence, to squeeze, to take a percentage, to touch lightly, to transform). (various references)

Manx		cur er (affectation, affectedness, apply, ascribe, compel, devolve, don, impose, imposition, induce, lead, oblige, on occasion, persuade, turn on). (various references)

Norwegian		tildele, påtvinge (impose), gi (accord, allow, bestow, give, hand, yield). (various references)

Pig Latin		inflictay

Portuguese		infligir (lay on, put on), impor (bind, command, enjoin, force, impose, impress, lay on, penates, put on, sandbag, strike), punir (amerce, bluff, castigate, chasten, chastise, disciplined, flog, pull about, punish, sentence, smite, visit), flexivo (inflective, inflexibility, inflexive), fazer sofrer (Harry, hurt one's feeling, pain, rack, torment, wring), castigar (amerce, beat, birch, castigate, chasten, cob, discipline, flog, penance, pull about, punish, smite, swinge, thrash, visit, whack, whip). (various references)

Romanian		se impune (arrive, grow, make one's mark), pricinui daunã, da (accord, administer, afford, avail, beat, bestow, bind, deal, deliver, deliver up, extend, fetch, find, gift, give, give away, grant, hallo, hand, launch, lend, offer, pass, pay, push, reach, render, restore, return, sell, send, set, sound, sprout, yea, yes, yield), cauza (bring, cause, determine, draw on, entail, make, occasion, procure, provoke), aplica (adhibit, administer, affix, append, apply, enforce, give, implement, imprint, practice, seal). (various references)

Russian		наносить (deal, plot). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		zadati (assign, cause, give, land), naneti (bring, deposit, strike). (various references)

Spanish		infligir (wreak). (various references)

Swedish		tillfoga (add, affix, suffix). (various references)

Turkish		yamamak (doctor, foist, patch, piece up, repair, revamp, vamp up), yüklemek (ascribe, burden, charge, embark, encumber, fasten, fasten on, father, foist, freight, hand over, heap, impose, impute, Lade, lay, lay on, lay smth. at one's door, load, offload, overlay, pin, pitch, plant, put, put down, saddle, shift, stack, store, weight), vurmak (bang, bat, beat, beat down, bruise, bust, catapult, catch, chime, clap, clip, clout, dash, deal, grass, gun, hit, impinge, kayo, knock, land, lay out, lay to, Lodge, Mall, nail, pack, percuss, pip, plant, plonk, plug, plunk, pound, prick, pummel, punch, putt, ram, shoot, shoot off, slog, smash, sock, strike, stroke, stub, swat, swinge, switch, whack, zap), vermek (accord, adduce, adjudge, administer, allow, assign, award, bear, bestow, bring, bring in, cede, charter, come across with, confer, contribute, dedicate, deliver, deliver up, dispose of, distribute, donate, endow, extend, furnish, give, give away, give in, grant, hand, hand in, hand out, hand over, impart, inoculate, insert, instate, lend, let, let out, offer, pass, pass in, place, present, produce, put up, reach, render, serve, tender, throw, yield), atmak (affix, beat, blow, blow out, cashier, cast, cast away, cast off, catapult, chuck, chuck away, chuck out, dart, dash, deliver, discharge, doff, draw the longbow, drop, eject, elbow out, elbow smb. out, eliminate, fabricate, fetch, fib, flash, fling, fling away, fling out, fuse, fuze, give a kick, heave, hurl, insert, invent, junk, launch, let fly, loose, loose off, order off, peg, peg at, pelt, pitch, precipitate, project, pulsate, pulse, put, scutch, send, shoot, shoot out, shy, sling, tell a fib, tell lies, throw, throw away, throw into, toss, uncork, utter, void), çarptırmak (condemn, slap on). (various references)

Turkmen		zarbykdyrmak (inflict harm, wound). (various references)

Ukranian		завдавати (cause, deal, procure), заподіювати. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	infer, inferam, inferamus, inferant, inferas, inferat, inferatis, inferebant, inferebantur, inferebatur, inferemus, inferens, inferent, inferentes, inferentur, infereris, inferes, inferet, inferetur, infero, inferre, inferrent, inferrentur, inferret, infers, infert, inferte, infertur, inferunt, inflixerit, ingero, inlata, inlatas, inlatis, inlatum, inlatus, inponam, inponas, inponat, inponatur, inpone, inponebant, inponebat, inponendi, inponens, inponent, inponentem, inponentes, inponentesque, inponentque, inponere, inponeremus, inponerent, inponeret, inpones, inponet, inponetis, inponetque, inponetur, inponi, inponit, inponite, inponunt, inposita, inpositae, inpositam, inpositasque, inpositione, inpositionem, inpositionis, inpositis, inpositisque, inposito, inpositum, inpositumque, inposueris, inposuerunt, inposueruntque, inposui, inposuissent, inposuisset, inposuisti, inposuit, inposuitque, intulerat, intuleris, intulerunt, intulimus, intulisset, intulistis, intulit, subinferentes. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "inflict": inflicted, inflicter, inflicters, inflicting, infliction, inflictions, inflictive, inflictor, inflictors, inflicts. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Inflict" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cnflict, infit, inflait, Inflot, nilfisk. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "inflict" (pronounced i'nfli"kt)
5	-f l i" k t	afflict.
4	-l i" k t	clicked, Licht, licked, slicked.
3	-i" k t	addict, constrict, contradict, depict, evict, handpicked, kicked, nicked, picked, predict, pricked, restrict, strict, ticked, tricked.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-f-i-i-l-n-t"
	-2 letters: clift, ficin, flint, licit.
	-3 letters: clit, flic, flit, inti, lift, lint.
	-4 letters: fil, fin, fit, lin, lit, nil, nit, tic, til, tin.
	-5 letters: if, in, it, li, ti.
	Words containing the letters "c-f-i-i-l-n-t"
	+1 letter: inflicts.
	+2 letters: fictional, flitching, inflicted, inflicter, inflictor.
	+3 letters: afflicting, affliction, frictional, infelicity, inflecting, inflection, inflective, inflicters, inflicting, infliction, inflictive, inflictors, pontifical.
	+4 letters: afflictions, conflicting, confliction, conflictive, deficiently, efficiently, facelifting, fictionally, flichtering, inflections, inflictions, interfacial, pontificals.
	+5 letters: bifunctional, confidential, conflictions, difunctional, electrifying, facilitating, facilitation, factionalism, felicitating, felicitation, fibrinolytic, fictionalise, fictionality, fictionalize, focalization, frictionally, frictionless, indefectible, indefectibly, infanticidal, infectiously, infelicities, infelicitous, inflectional, liquefaction, munificently, nonfictional, pontifically, proficiently, solifluction, sufficiently, uglification, vilification.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.