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Glite Dictionary
🎤 To change tone 🔤 To change form
to inflect

to inflect

1 7.3
Change the sound of your voice to show feeling
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈflɛkt/
translation icon : modular
  • As she spoke, her voice inflected with the emotion she tried to hide.
  • inflected thinking

Examples

  • Sometimes he inflects it as a question: Suck it?

    Academic text (2007)

  • "When I imagine," she added, inflecting the first syllable of ungbi a semitone higher.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I ask, making sure to inflect my voice to indicate the question mark at the end.

    Blog text (25)

  • As she spoke, Spice's voice was inflected with the hurt she felt inside.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • During the presentation, he inflected his voice to highlight key points.

  • When she is excited, she always inflects her voice with a higher pitch.

Synonyms

to tone
vsto inflect
39 5.3

To change the pitch of your voice to show feeling

is limited to changing pitch in speech, not broader voice quality
to modulate
vsto inflect
9 6.7

Change the pitch and volume of voice or music

is about changing pitch or tone during speech, not wider audio control

How Expressive

to inflect
1 7.3
to modulate
9 6.7
monotone
8 5.3

Surface Forms

inflect infinitive
inflected past
inflected past participle
inflecting present participle
inflects third person singular

Morphology

inflect = in + flect

The verb is analyzable as in- + flect, but 'flect' is not a standalone English word, so learners cannot reliably derive the meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Inflect comes from the Latin parts in- 'into' and flect 'to bend'. So to inflect your voice is like 'bending' it — changing its pitch or tone to show different feelings.