inflect

[in-flekt]

verb (used with object)

1. to alter, adapt, or modulate (the voice).

2. to alter or adapt in tone or character: jazz-inflected music.

   the power of storytelling inflected through a feminist sensibility;

   jazz-inflected music.

3. Grammar.

   1. to apply inflection to (a word).

   2. to recite or display all or a distinct set of the inflections of (a word); decline or conjugate.

4. to bend; turn from a direct line or course.

5. Botany.,  to bend in.

verb (used without object)

1. Grammar.,  to be characterized by inflection.

inflect

/ ɪnˈflɛkt /

verb

1. (grammar) to change (the form of a word) or (of a word) to change in form by inflection

2. (tr) to change (the voice) in tone or pitch; modulate

3. (tr) to cause to deviate from a straight or normal line or course; bend

Other Word Forms

• inflectedness noun
• inflective adjective
• inflector noun
• noninflected adjective
• uninflected adjective
• uninflective adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of inflect¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English inflecten, from Latin inflectere “to bend in,” equivalent to in- in- ² + flectere “to bend, curve”; flex ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of inflect¹

C15: from Latin inflectere to curve round, alter, from flectere to bend

Example Sentences

As historian Anthea Butler has argued, “racism inflected almost every point of evangelicalism along the way.”

From Salon

He inflects Hamlet’s glorious speeches with modern color but little meaning.

From Los Angeles Times

That idea has inflected a lot of their jurisprudence on voting rights.

From Salon

The sketch served as a showcase for Johnson's discursive and oddly inflected take on Trump, ranging from bits about Cheesecake Factory to the uninhabited islands that the Trump admin subjected to a 10% import tariff.

From Salon

It’s a capitulation to the asymmetrical political polarization that inflects seemingly every aspect of American life.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• announce 
• articulate 
• assert 
• declare 
• deliver 
• emphasize 
• present 
• proclaim 
• say 
• speak 
• tell 
• utter 
• vent