inflicted

verb

past tense of inflict
as in imposed
to cause someone to accept or experience something unwanted The criminal inflicted a lifetime of distress on his unsuspecting victims.

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inflicted While addiction spans every socioeconomic background, these advocates routinely turn a blind eye to the outsized destruction inflicted on vulnerable neighborhoods. — Brianne Doura-Schawohl, Baltimore Sun, 19 Aug. 2026 In Iraq, the United States inflicted a dozen years of punishing sanctions, intermittent bombing, and failed regime change and counterproliferation efforts, followed by the disastrous 2003 invasion and occupation, all at tremendous human cost. — Marc Lynch, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026 This was a non-destructive quake with no major damage inflicted. — New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2026 The champion faced a challenging opponent, as Garry forced him to work hard for seven takedowns and inflicted some facial damage. — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026 Interestingly, there has been very little research on the effects inflicted on a wide-binary companion during such an event. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026 The blogger suffered injuries that may have been inflicted with a knife, according to TMZ. — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 14 Aug. 2026 Even Corlys tries to negotiate for peace rather than see more devastation inflicted on soldiers and innocent people alike (not to mention the children Ormund lines around the city's gates as human shields). — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026 The horrors inflicted and the resilience of the Jewish people in the face of denial and cruelty would define the rest of the century. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inflicted
  1. imposed
  2. created
  3. forced
  4. brought
Verb
  • Western nations have imposed economic and political sanctions in response to the military takeover and violent repression of opposition, which has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and given rise to a civil war.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Powell’s record low comes as the seven states that share the Colorado River’s water wait to find out what cuts will be imposed.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of imposed
Verb
  • Amaya joined DePaul in October 2022 and, according to her lawsuit, created and oversaw the athletic department’s mental health education programming.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Some of the loudest opposing voices are creatives, who see the products being created by AI companies as something threatening to their own practice and to the world at-large.
    — T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of created
Verb
  • Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, was forced to roll out a second artificial surface after the World Cup because its first attempt didn’t pass an independent lab test as required by the NFL and NFLPA.
    — Tim Graham, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026
  • The champion faced a challenging opponent, as Garry forced him to work hard for seven takedowns and inflicted some facial damage.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of forced
Verb
  • Firefighters brought the blaze under control and the injured were taken to a hospital where some were being treated for burn injuries while others suffered from smoke inhalation and asphyxiation, the report said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • The case was brought by Strawberry Growers for Fair Trade, a coalition of Florida strawberry producers, whose berries are typically harvested during the winter months.
    — Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of brought

Browse Nearby Words

inflict
inflicted
inflicting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Inflicted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inflicted. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on inflicted

Nglish: Translation of inflicted for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of rigmarole

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All