How to Use inflict in a Sentence

inflict

verb

• 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
• But that doesn't mean Andre isn't ready to inflict some more pain on himself.
  — Derek Lawrence, EW.com, 5 Jan. 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 | [e-mail], 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
• There have been pure hammerings inflicted by a magisterial opponent, there have been vain attempts to keep the score down, there have been have-a-go failures and defensive mishaps.
  — George Caulkin, The Athletic, 15 Feb. 2025
• The toll inflicted by this week's cuts stretches beyond probationary workers and fellows.
  — Alexander Tin, CBS News, 15 Feb. 2025

Last Updated: 5 Mar 2025