Meaning & use
inflammation
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Redness, swelling, heat and pain in a part of the body as it reacts to injury or infection.
Grammar: Often uncountable, but a particular site can be named: inflammation of the joint.
Patterns
- inflammation of something
- inflammation in something
Ice can reduce the inflammation around a sprained ankle.
The doctor found inflammation in her throat.
Long-term inflammation can damage healthy tissue.
noununcountableformalfigurative
The act of stirring up strong feelings, especially anger.
Grammar: Rare and formal for emotions: the inflammation of tensions.
Patterns
- inflammation of something
The newspaper article led to the inflammation of public anger.
Reckless speeches risk the inflammation of old rivalries.
Critics warned against the inflammation of tensions.
Word forms
| plural | inflammations |
|---|
Common combinations
- reduce inflammation
- This medicine helps reduce inflammation.
- chronic inflammation
- Chronic inflammation is linked to many illnesses.
- inflammation of the joints
- Arthritis causes inflammation of the joints.
- anti-inflammatory
- She took an anti-inflammatory for her sore knee.
- cause inflammation
- Dust can cause inflammation of the airways.
Synonyms and how they differ
- swelling
- Swelling describes only the enlargement, whereas inflammation also includes redness, heat and pain.
- irritation
- Irritation is milder and may involve no real tissue reaction.
- infection
- Infection means germs have invaded, while inflammation is the body's reaction, which can happen without germs.
Word family
- inflame verb
- to make sore or to stir up feelings
- inflamed adjective
- red, swollen and sore
- inflammatory adjective
- causing inflammation or anger
- anti-inflammatory adjective
- reducing inflammation
Commonly confused: inflammation or infection? inflammation or inflation?
inflammation vs infection
An infection is caused by microbes, while inflammation is the body's reaction to damage of any kind.
inflammation vs inflation
Inflation is a rise in prices or the act of filling with air.
Practice
A doctor says a sprained wrist shows signs of inflammation. Which signs does that suggest?
Choose one answer.
Inflammation is marked by redness, swelling, heat and pain. A bacterial fever points to infection, which is different.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inflammation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.