Afflict - inflict

Afflict and inflict are two words close in meaning, coming from same root in Latin. The difference is mostly in the usage, particularly the prepositions:

• afflict [the victim] with [the suffering]; but
• inflict [the suffering] on [the victim]

To afflict is to distress (OED); or to cause suffering to. Its usage is most often in the passive voice. (This shows that it is a transitive verb.) Someone may be afflicted with arthritis, for example.

Much more rarely, it is used in the active voice. [Someone in authority - often a God] afflicts [a sufferer] with [punishment, trials or tribulations].

To inflict is to lay on, as a stroke or blow, or To impose something unwelcome. (Often jocular.) (OED).

Its usage is most often in the active form: [Someone] inflicts [a pain or other undesirable thing] on [someone else].