inflection

American  

[in-flek-shuhn] / ɪnˈflɛk ʃən /

especially British, inflexion

noun

1. modulation of the voice; change in pitch or tone of voice.

2. Grammar. Also

   1. the process or device of adding affixes to or changing the shape of a base to give it a different syntactic function without changing its form class.

   2. the paradigm of a word.

   3. a single pattern of formation of a paradigm.

      noun inflection; verb inflection.

   4. the change in the shape of a word, generally by affixation, by means of which a change of meaning or relationship to some other word or group of words is indicated.

   5. the affix added to produce this change, as the -s in dogs or the -ed in played.

   6. the systematic description of such processes in a given language, as in serves from serve, sings from sing, and harder from hard (derivation ).

3. a bend or angle.

4. Mathematics. a change of curvature from convex to concave or vice versa.

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inflection British  

/ ɪnˈflɛkʃən /

noun

1. modulation of the voice

2. (grammar) a change in the form of a word, usually modification or affixation, signalling change in such grammatical functions as tense, voice, mood, person, gender, number, or case

3. an angle or bend

4. the act of inflecting or the state of being inflected

5. maths a change in curvature from concave to convex or vice versa See also point of inflection

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inflection Cultural  

1. A change in the form of a word to reflect different grammatical functions of the word in a sentence. English has lost most of its inflections. Those that remain are chiefly possessive ('s), as in “the boy's hat”; plural (-s), as in “the three girls”; and past tense (-d or -ed), as in cared. Other inflections are found in pronouns — as in he, him, his — and in irregular words such as think/thought, child/children, and mouse/mice.

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Other Word Forms

• inflectional adjective
• inflectionally adverb
• inflectionless adjective
• preinflection noun

Etymology

Origin of inflection

1525–35; variant spelling of inflexion < Latin inflexiōn- (stem of inflexiō ) a bending. See inflect, -ion

Example Sentences

A year ago, Kelly spoke about how AI usage was reaching an inflection point, with more daily usage and demand.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

The company has “methodically positioned itself across nearly every critical bottleneck in AI,” and is approaching an inflection point, he said.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

“The Comeback” has a way of reappearing with Valerie’s perky “hello, hello, hello!” at inflection points like this, making the perpetually out-of-step performer uncannily right on time, always.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

Executive Chairman Ed Stack said that the company is making progress in its “clean out the garage” efforts on Foot Locker, which have prepared the brand to reach an inflection point by the back-to-school season.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

“I had pneumonia when I was just a tiny baby,” Denna said with no particular inflection.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Related Words

• articulation
• pronunciation
• timbre
• tone of voice