How to Use inflict in a Sentence

inflict

verb
Definition of inflictnext
Synonyms for inflictnext
  • These insects are capable of inflicting a painful sting.
  • Over the course of 30 years the United States has inflicted grave damage on Iraq.
    — Steven Simon and Adam Weinstein, Foreign Affairs, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Michael Myers is about to inflict on not just Laurie Strode, but the world.
    — Gwen Ihnat, EW.com, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Not when the Bucs defense was there to inflict the finishing blows.
    — Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 18 Sep. 2022
  • It’s built around guns, knives, fists and pure will: anything that can inflict instant death.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Mar. 2023
  • And so, to shut down the government would inflict pain on the American people.
    — Megan Barnes, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2023
  • The good men, like Myron, tend to die young, while the male characters who inflict harm seem blessed with longevity.
    — Leah Tyler, ajc, 21 Mar. 2022
  • Georgia inflicted the first loss, with Texas A&M dealing out the next four.
    — Mark Inabinett | [email protected], al, 25 Aug. 2023
  • For Israel, the onslaught is all downstream of the horror inflicted by Hamas on Oct. 7.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 13 Nov. 2023
  • But rather than run away, Mercy quietly reshapes her life in a way that’s meant to inflict the least hurt.
    — Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Mar. 2022
  • But the rebound remains small compared to the scale of the losses inflicted in recent days.
    — Maureen Farrell, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Tonight, Davis was only the enemy of the state, on a mission to inflict memorable harm.
    — Tyler R. Tynes, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023
  • Frigid air that could inflict frostbite in ten minutes.
    — Emmanuel Felton, Washington Post, 24 Dec. 2022
  • No one is planning to inflict massive biocide like Thanos in the Marvel Avengers films.
    — Matthew Cobb, Scientific American, 13 Jan. 2023
  • Kevin Durant, who averages 29 points per game, will look to inflict more damage on the Celtics.
    — Matt Boecker | Catena Media, oregonlive, 1 Feb. 2023
  • The suspect did manage to inflict a severe bite on one of the officers, police said.
    — Landon Mion, Fox News, 18 Aug. 2024
  • But this is a grimmer kind of boy’s book, less fit for a classroom but more candid about the damage adults inflict on children.
    — Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2023
  • Faludi is wary of any force that would dictate what women do with their bodies, and alert to the harm such dictates can inflict.
    — Molly Fischer, The New Yorker, 21 July 2022
  • On May 2, the rider died of the injuries inflicted in the accident and was pronounced deceased.
    — Caelyn Pender, The Mercury News, 6 May 2024
  • Garby said the injuries inflicted on Brosso and Bernas were reflected in some of the images Miller viewed.
    — Lane Sainty, The Arizona Republic, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Her mother mixed the dye in spray bottles once filled with cleaning supplies, which the girl, now the woman, used to inflict garish patterns on the yard.
    — Jessi Jezewska Stevens, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022
  • Shortly after Wednesday’s barrage, Yevhen pulled out his iPhone to play a video from the day before of the damage the howitzers can inflict.
    — Anastacia Galouchka, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Whether that would inflict serious damage on the tech giants isn’t clear.
    — Malathi Nayak, Bloomberg.com, 28 Feb. 2022
  • The key for union leaders would be to find the strategy that will inflict the most pain on the company while doing the least damage to the union's $825 million strike fund.
    — Jamie L. Lareau, The Courier-Journal, 23 Aug. 2023
  • But if a special counsel must be inflicted, David Weiss is uniquely unfit for the job.
    — William McGurn, WSJ, 21 Aug. 2023
  • For all the damage the Russians have been able to inflict, though, the war isn't providing the quick and easy victory Putin might have expected.
    — Richard Galant, CNN, 13 Mar. 2022
  • Efforts to inflict such a cut have repeatedly failed on the House and Senate floors in recent years, Lord said.
    — Svetlana Shkolnikova Stars and Stripes (tns), al, 13 Jan. 2023
  • Dry stun refers to the use of a taser on a person to inflict pain without incapacitating the person.
    — Davi Merchan, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2023
  • Over the past 45 years, tropical cyclones have inflicted more than $1 trillion in damage, Smith said.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 28 Dec. 2024
  • In March, 2000, the dot-com bubble finally burst, and during the subsequent eighteen months the Nasdaq plunged about seventy per cent, inflicting huge losses on those who had got in near the market top.
    — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inflict.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: