INFLICTION

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does infliction mean? 

• INFLICTION (noun)
  The noun INFLICTION has 3 senses:

1. the act of imposing something (as a tax or an embargo)

2. an act causing pain or damage

3. something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness

  Familiarity information: INFLICTION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INFLICTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of imposing something (as a tax or an embargo)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

imposition; infliction

Hypernyms ("infliction" is a kind of...):

enforcement (the act of enforcing; ensuring observance of or obedience to)

Domain category:

revenue enhancement; tax; taxation (charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "infliction"):

protection; trade protection (the imposition of duties or quotas on imports in order to protect domestic industry against foreign competition)

regimentation (the imposition of order or discipline)

reimposition (imposition again)

taxation (the imposition of taxes; the practice of the government in levying taxes on the subjects of a state)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An act causing pain or damage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("infliction" is a kind of...):

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Derivation:

inflict (impose something unpleasant)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

annoyance; bother; botheration; infliction; pain; pain in the ass; pain in the neck

Context example:

he's not a friend, he's an infliction

Hypernyms ("infliction" is a kind of...):

negative stimulus (a stimulus with undesirable consequences)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "infliction"):

nuisance ((law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive)

irritant; thorn (something that causes irritation and annoyance)

plague (an annoyance)

 Context examples 

Even the calm and patient face of Doctor Strong expressed some little sense of pain, I thought, under the infliction of these compliments.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“And of your infliction,” cried Elizabeth with energy.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

My sufferings were augmented also by the oppressive sense of the injustice and ingratitude of their infliction.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

There were moments when I was bewildered by the terror he inspired, because I had no appeal whatever against either his menaces or his inflictions; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject: she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me, though he did both now and then in her very presence, more frequently, however, behind her back.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)