2 syllables: in, fect. Stress on fect.
/ˌɪˈnfɛkt/
Say it backInfect is a transitive verb meaning to cause disease to spread or to contaminate something with a disease-causing agent. It can also mean to affect a person or thing with a unclean or harmful influence. The verb typically appears in medical, biological, and figurative contexts, and is often paired with nouns like bacteria, virus, or rumors.
"The outbreak could infect dozens of people if not contained."
"Improper handling can infect the wound and delay healing."
"The rumor began to infect the town’s morale."
Say in-FECT, with stress on the second syllable. The first vowel is the lax short /ɪ/ as in kit, the second vowel is a short /e/ as in pet. The ending is /ekt/ (like “ect” in connect without the n). IPA: US/UK/AU: ɪnˈfɛkt. Mouth: start with a relaxed /ɪ/, then tighten to a crisp /f/, followed by a short /ɛ/ vowel and a clear /k/ + /t/ closure. Quick tip: keep the /n/ sound light and immediately move into /f/ without adding an extra syllable.
Common errors: 1) Misdropping the second syllable stress (say in-FECT, not IN-fect). 2) Merging the /f/ with a nasal, producing in-fɪŋkt. 3) Mispronouncing /ɛ/ as /iː/ or /eɪ/, making it 'in-fikt' or 'in-feekt'. Correction: keep the /f/ as a voiceless labiodental fricative, separate from the following vowel; use /ɛ/ as in pet, not /ɪ/ or /i/. Practice by isolating the /f/ and the /ɛ/ in sequence, then blend quickly into /kt/.
US: ɪnˈfɛkt with rhoticity default; UK: typically ɪnˈfɛkt, non-rhotic /r/ not relevant here; AU: similar to UK, but with slight vowel flattening and more clipped consonants; all share /ɪn/ onset and /fɛkt/ coda. The main variation is vowel quality and speed; Americans may slightly reduce the first syllable and push more air into the /ɛ/; Australians may have a more centralized vowel in fast speech.
Because it blends a nasal onset /n/ with a voiceless stop cluster /f/ + /kt/. The transition from /f/ to /ɛ/ can cause it to sound like /fi/ or /fɪk/ if rushed. The /n/ can delay the onset of the stressed syllable, and the /ɪ/ in the first syllable is short and lax, often reduced in rapid speech. Keep the first syllable compact, then abruptly release into /fɛkt/ with full mouth closure on /t/.
There are no silent letters in conventional American, UK, or AU pronunciations. The word is pronounced with clear /ɪ/ in the first vowel, stressed syllable on /fɛkt/, and the final /t/ is pronounced. In very careful articulation, you may hear a brief slight release on the /t/ and a crisper /k/ before it; however, in connected speech, /kt/ is often produced as a quick, single closure.
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Infect comes from the Latin infectus, the past participle of incendere ‘to set on fire’ in the sense of “to fire up, to set a disease in motion,” via French infecter and Latin infectus. The root Latin verb is incendere ‘to set on fire’ (in- ‘in, upon’ + incendere ‘to burn’), extended metaphorically to disease and corruption. In English, infect appeared in the 14th century as a medical term to denote contamination by a disease agent. Through the centuries, the sense broadened to cover metaphorical contamination (influence, ideas, rumors). The term sits within a larger Germanic and Romance borrowing pattern where Latin-based scientific vocabulary entered English alongside older roots. The modern usage calibrates “infect” to mean transfer or transmission of an agent capable of causing disease, or to affect culturally or morally via metaphorical infection. In contemporary usage, you’ll find infect in medical, epidemiological, and figurative phrases—e.g., an infection, to infect someone with a disease, or to infect a public sentiment with fear. The word’s form is regular in conjugation (infects, infected, infecting), and its stress pattern remains on the second syllable: in-FECT in most dialects, preserving the Latin root’s influence on pronunciation. First known use in Middle English c. 1300s, evolving through medical Latin practices into modern English vocabulary.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "infect" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "infect"
-ked sounds
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