English dictionary — definitions & meanings

inebrious

adj

intoxicated; drunk

inedible

adjective

Not fit or safe to be eaten.

ineffable

adj

Beyond expression in words; unspeakable.

ineffective

adjective

Not producing the result you want or need.

ineffectual

adjective

Failing to produce the desired effect; not achieving much.

inefficacious

adj

Incapable of having the intended consequence.

inefficiency

noun

The quality of wasting time, effort, or resources instead of working well.

inefficient

adjective

Not making good use of time, energy, or resources; wasteful.

inelastic

adj

Lacking elasticity; inflexible, unyielding.

inelegance

noun

The state or quality of being inelegant; lack of grace, refinement, beauty, or polish in language, composition, or manners.

inelegant

adj

Not elegant; not exhibiting neatness, refinement, or precision.

ineligibility

noun

The state or quality of being ineligible.

ineligible

adj

Not eligible; forbidden to do something.

ineluctable

adj

Impossible to avoid or escape; inescapable, irresistible.

ineluctably

adv

In an ineluctable manner.

inenarrable

adj

That cannot be told; indescribable, inexpressible, unspeakable.

inenubilable

adj

Incapable of being cleared of clouds.

inept

adjective

Lacking skill; clumsy or incompetent at doing something.

ineptitude

noun

The quality of being inept.

ineptness

noun

The quality or degree of being inept.

inequality

noun

An unfair difference in wealth, opportunity, or treatment between people or groups.

inequation

noun

A statement that two expressions are not the same.

inequitable

adj

unfair, unequal or unjust.

inequity

noun

A lack of equity (justice).

ineradicable

adj

Not able to be eradicated; (of a root, plant, etc.) too deep to remove.

inerrant

adj

Exhibiting inerrancy; without error.

inert

adjective

Not moving or acting; lifeless or motionless.

inertia

noun

In physics, the tendency of an object to keep doing whatever it's already doing — staying still or moving in a straight line — unless a force acts on it.

inertial

adjective

Relating to or based on inertia.

inertness

noun

Lack of activity or exertion; habitual indisposition to action or motion

inescapable

adjective

Impossible to avoid or get away from.

inescapably

adv

In an inescapable manner.

inessential

adj

Not essential.

inestimable

adj

Not able to be estimated; not able to be calculated, computed or comprehended, as because of great scale, degree or magnitude.

inevitability

noun

The quality of being certain to happen; the fact that something can't be avoided.

inevitable

adjective

Certain to happen; impossible to avoid or prevent.

inevitableness

noun

The characteristic of being inevitable; inevitability.

inevitably

adverb

In a way that can't be avoided; as was bound to happen.

inexact

adj

Imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect.

inexactly

adv

In a manner not exact or precise; inaccurately.

inexcusable

adjective

So bad that there is no acceptable reason or excuse for it.

inexhaustible

adjective

So large or endless that it seems impossible to use up.

inexhaustibly

adv

In an inexhaustible manner.

inexistence

noun

The state of not being, not existing, or not being perceptible.

inexorable

adjective

Impossible to stop or change once it's set in motion; unavoidable.

inexorably

adverb

In a way that cannot be stopped or changed; relentlessly.

inexpensive

adjective

Not costing much; reasonably priced.

inexpensively

adv

In an inexpensive manner.

inexperience

noun

A lack of knowledge or skill that comes from not having done something before.

inexperienced

adjective

Lacking the knowledge or skill gained from doing something before; new to it.

inexpert

adj

Inept or unskilled; not of expert ability or quality.

inexplicable

adjective

Impossible to explain or understand.

inexplicably

adverb

In a way that can't be explained; for no clear reason.

inexpressible

adj

Unable to be expressed; not able to be put into words.

inexpressive

adj

Lacking expression or emotion.

inextricable

adj

Impossible to untie or disentangle.

inextricably

adverb

In a way that is so closely connected it can't be separated or untangled.

Inez

name

A female given name from Spanish, an anglicized form of Inés, ultimately from Agnes.

infallibility

noun

The property of being infallible; the ability to never make a mistake.

infallible

adjective

Never wrong; incapable of making a mistake.

infamize

verb

To make infamous; to defame or smear.

infamous

adjective

Well known for something bad; having a very bad reputation.

infamy

noun

The state of being infamous; a very bad, widely known reputation.

infancy

noun

The earliest stage of childhood, before a baby can walk and talk.

infant

noun

A very young child, roughly from birth up to around two years old.

infantile

adjective

Relating to infants or early childhood.

infantry

noun

Soldiers who fight on foot, as opposed to those in tanks, on horseback, or in vehicles.

infantryman

noun

a soldier employed in an infantry role

infarct

noun

An area of dead tissue caused by a loss of blood supply; a localized necrosis.

infarction

noun

The death of tissue caused by a blocked blood supply, as in a heart attack.

infare

noun

A party or other celebration held to mark someone's entrance into a new home, especially the arrival of a bride at her new home; a wedding reception.

infatuated

adjective

Feeling an intense, often unreasonable attraction or love for someone.

infatuation

noun

An intense but often short-lived attraction or passion for someone.

infect

verb

To pass a disease-causing germ or virus into a person, animal, or plant.

infected

adjective

Having caught a disease or having a wound contaminated with harmful germs.

infection

noun

An illness caused by harmful bacteria, viruses, or other germs entering the body.

infectious

adjective

Able to be passed from one person or animal to another, usually through germs.

infelicitous

adj

Unhappy or unfortunate.

infelicity

noun

The condition of being infelicitous.

infer

verb

To work out or conclude something based on evidence or reasoning, rather than being told directly.

inference

noun

A conclusion reached by reasoning from evidence rather than being told directly.

inferior

adj

Lower in rank, quality, or importance than something or someone else.

inferiority

noun

The state of being lower in quality, rank, or ability than others.

infernal

adj

Relating to hell or the underworld; hellish.

inferno

noun

A huge, raging fire.

infertile

adj

Not able to produce offspring, crops, or fruit.

infertility

noun

The inability to conceive a child or produce offspring.

infestation

noun

A large, unwelcome presence of pests such as insects or rodents in a place.

infested

adj

that has undergone an infestation

infidel

noun

A person who does not believe in a particular religion, especially as viewed by believers of that religion.

infidelity

noun

Sexual or romantic unfaithfulness to a spouse or partner.

infield

noun

In baseball, the diamond-shaped area bounded by home plate and the three bases.

infielder

noun

A player who plays in the infield, which is the inner portion of the field.

infiltrate

verb

To secretly gain entry into an organization or place, often to spy or cause harm.

infiltration

noun

The act of secretly entering an organization, group, or place.

infiltrator

noun

One who infiltrates an organization or territory; an undercover or covert agent.

infinite

adj

Without limits or end; endless in size, extent, or number.

infinitely

adv

Without any limit; endlessly.

infiniteness

noun

The quality of being infinite.

infinitesimal

adj

Incalculably, exceedingly, or immeasurably minute; vanishingly small.

infinitival

adj

Of, pertaining to, or formed from an infinitive.

infinitude

noun

The state or quality of being infinite or having no limit.

infinity

noun

A quantity or extent without any limit or end.

infirm

adj

Physically weak or in poor health, especially due to age or illness.

infirmary

noun

A place where sick or injured people are treated, especially a small hospital or clinic.

infirmity

noun

Feebleness, frailty or ailment, especially due to old age.

infix

verb

To set; to fasten or fix by piercing or thrusting in.

inflame

verb

To make a feeling, situation, or conflict more intense or heated.

inflamed

adj

Swollen, red, or sore because of infection, irritation, or injury.

inflammable

adj

Capable of burning.

inflammation

noun

A part of the body becoming red, swollen, hot, and painful, usually as a reaction to injury or infection.

inflammatory

adj

Likely to provoke anger or strong reaction, especially through speech or writing.

inflatable

adj

Able to be filled with air to expand it.

inflate

verb

To fill something with air or gas so that it expands.

inflated

adj

Filled with air or gas so as to be expanded.

inflation

noun

A general and sustained rise in prices, which reduces the purchasing power of money.

inflect

verb

To cause to curve inwards.

inflection

noun

The linguistic phenomenon of morphological variation, whereby terms take a number of distinct forms in order to express different grammatical features.

inflexibility

noun

The quality or state of being inflexible, or not capable of being bent or changed; unyielding stiffness

inflexible

adj

Unable to bend or be physically altered in shape.

inflict

verb

To cause something unpleasant, such as pain, damage, or punishment, to be suffered by someone.

infliction

noun

The act of inflicting or something inflicted; an imposition.

inflood

noun

The act or process of flooding or flowing in; an inflow or influx.

inflorescence

noun

A group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches.

inflow

noun

The act or process of flowing in or into.

influence

noun

The power to affect how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks.

influenced

adj

Affected or shaped by someone or something else.

influencer

noun

A person who has built a large following on social media and is paid by brands to promote products to it.

influencing

verb

Affecting or shaping the way someone thinks, acts, or develops (the -ing form of influence).

influent

noun

A stream which flows into another stream or a lake.

influential

adj

Having significant power to affect how things develop or how people think.

influentially

adv

In an influential manner.

influenza

noun

A contagious viral illness affecting the airways and lungs, often causing fever, aches, and fatigue.

influx

noun

A large number of people or things arriving at once.

info

noun

Information (an informal shortening).

infold

verb

To fold inwards.

infomercial

noun

A long television advertisement made to look like an informative program, promoting a product.

inform

verb

To tell someone about facts or a situation.

informal

adj

Relaxed and casual rather than official or ceremonious.

informally

adv

In a casual or unofficial way.

informant

noun

A person who secretly gives confidential information to authorities, such as the police.

informatics

noun

Synonym of computer science.

information

noun

Facts or knowledge provided or learned about something.

informative

adj

Giving useful or interesting facts; educational in tone.

informed

adj

Having good knowledge of a subject or situation; kept up to date on the facts.

informer

noun

Someone who secretly tells the authorities about a crime or wrongdoing.

informing

adj

Giving useful facts or knowledge; educational.

infortunate

adj

Unfortunate, unlucky.

INFP

noun

One of the sixteen personality types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, standing for introverted, intuitive, feeling and perceiving. It describes someone typically characterised as quiet, idealistic, guided by personal values and imaginative rather than practical.

infraction

noun

A breaking of a rule or law, usually a minor one.