175 Verbs That Start With I | Definitions, Examples & Tips
Verbs that start with I play an important role in English vocabulary, academic writing, and standardized tests. They range from basic actions, like “improve” and “inspire,” to specialized vocabulary, like “indoctrinate” and “irradicate.”
This article presents 175 verbs that start with the letter I, organized into common and advanced categories. Whether you’re learning English, making vocabulary lessons, or studying for exams, this list supports a deeper awareness of the many interesting verbs in the English language.
- Imply→implied
- Identify→identified
- Intensify→intensified
QuillBot’s Grammar Checker can help you avoid errors when you’re using new verbs in your writing.
50 common verbs that start with I
Here are the 50 most common verbs that start with the letter I and their definitions.
- Ignore: Refuse to notice or respond to someone or something
- Illustrate: Provide pictures or examples
- Imagine: Form a mental image of something you can’t see
- Imitate: Copy or repeat what someone else does
- Immigrate: Move to a new country
- Impact: Directly affect
- Imply: Say indirectly
- Import: Bring or allow foreign goods into a country
- Impose: Make someone deal with something undesirable
- Impress: Gain someone’s admiration
- Improve: Make better
- Include: Make part of a group or contain as part of a group
- Inconvenience: Cause someone problems
- Increase: Make or become bigger
- Indent: Put (text) further from the margin in a written document
- Indicate: Show or say
- Infect: Contaminate or make sick
- Infer: Make a conclusion based on clues and evidence
- Influence: Have an effect on
- Inform: Educate or notify
- Inhale: Breathe in
- Inherit: Get from a parent or ancestor
- Inject: Put fluid into
- Injure: Hurt
- Insert: Put into
- Insist: Say or demand firmly
- Inspect: Examine carefully
- Inspire: Motivate someone to achieve
- Instruct: Teach or tell
- Insult: Make a rude remark or treat with disrespect
- Insure: Provide an insurance policy
- Intend: Plan
- Interact: Have an effect on one another
- Interest: Attract someone’s attention
- Interfere: Stop from happening
- Intern: Work at an internship
- Interpret: Explain in different words
- Interrupt: Stop or hinder
- Interview: Ask someone questions
- Introduce: Make known
- Intrude: Enter without permission
- Invade: Enter and take over
- Invent: Make or envision something that didn’t exist before
- Invest: Purchase with the intention of earning a profit
- Investigate: Examine closely and systematically
- Invite: Ask to attend
- Involve: Make part of
- Irritate: Anger or displease
- Issue: Distribute
- Itch: Cause an urge to scratch
The reporter interviewed three teachers for an article about classroom technology.
Lionel is interning at a radio station while earning a marketing degree.
The artist inspired me to take a pottery class.
- Infect→infection
- Inform→information
- Indicate→indication
- Interrupt→interruption
- Investigate→investigation
Studying these variations is a great way to expand your English vocabulary even further! QuillBot’s AI Chat is a fast and free way to get lists of other verb→noun pairs. It can also show you these words in sentences so that they’re even easier to remember.
125 advanced verbs that start with I
Study these verbs that start with I to level up your writing, study for standardized tests, and communicate complex ideas. Many of these verbs are common in academic writing, language proficiency tests, and college entrance exams.
Verbs that start with ID–IM
From “idealize” to “improvise,” these are some of the many verbs that start with I that you’ll find in news stories and academic texts.
- Idealize: Consider something perfect or better than it is
- Ideate: Generate ideas
- Identify: Learn or state the identity of someone or something
- Idle: (Of a car engine) Stay on while the car isn’t moving
- Idolize: Admire someone excessively
- Ignite: Set on fire or cause to begin suddenly
- Illude: Deceive or mislead
- Illuminate: Light up or make clear
- Imbue: Fill with a quality or feeling
- Immaterialize: Lose physical form
- Immerse: Submerge in liquid or involve deeply
- Immobilize: Prevent from moving
- Immoralize: Make immoral or corrupt
- Immortalize: Make famous or remembered forever
- Immunize: Protect against disease
- Immure: Enclose or imprison
- Impair: Damage or weaken
- Impart: Give information
- Impale: Pierce with a sharp object
- Impeach: Formally accuse a public official of wrongdoing
- Impede: Block or slow progress
- Impel: Cause someone to act
- Impend: Be about to happen
- Imperialize: Take control over other countries or peoples
- Imperil: Put in danger
- Impersonate: Pretend to be another person
- Implant: Insert surgically
- Implement: Put a plan into action
- Implicate: Show someone is involved in wrongdoing
- Implode: Collapse inward
- Implore: Beg urgently
- Importune: Beg persistently
- Impound: Seize and hold legally
- Impoverish: Make poor
- Impregnate: Make pregnant
- Imprint: Make a strong mark
- Imprison: Put in prison
- Improvise: Do without planning
Saturday Night Live actors frequently impersonate politicians in the opening skits.
The mayor implemented a free child care program for toddlers.
Verbs that start with INA–INE
Many of the words in this list are common in sociology and political science texts, especially “inaugurate,” “incentivize,” “indoctrinate,” and “industrialize.”
- Inaugurate: Formally begin
- Incapacitate: Make unable to function
- Incarcerate: Put in prison
- Incarnate: Give bodily form to
- Incentivize: Motivate with rewards
- Incinerate: Burn completely
- Incite: Encourage violent or unlawful action
- Incorporate: Include something as part of something else
- Incline: Persuade or influence
- Incriminate: Make someone appear guilty
- Incubate: Develop or nurture
- Incur: Bring upon oneself
- Indebt: Put into debt
- Indemnify: Compensate for loss or damage
- Indict: Formally charge with a crime
- Indoctrinate: Teach a one-sided view
- Induce: Cause or persuade
- Induct: Formally make a member
- Indulge: Consume or enjoy without restraint
- Industrialize: Add large-scale manufacturing to an agricultural country
- Inebriate: Intoxicate
The couple indulged in champagne and charcuterie on their anniversary.
Cher was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Verbs that start with INF–INS
Many of these verbs begin with the Latin prefix “in-,” which means “into” or “on.” Consider how this prefix affects the meanings of “infest,” “infuse,” and “inhabit” as you study the list below.
- Infantilize: Treat as childish or dependent
- Infatuate: Inspire intense passion
- Infest: Overrun in large numbers
- Infight: Engage in internal conflict
- Infiltrate: Enter secretly or gradually
- Infirm: Weaken
- Inflame: Set on fire or provoke strong emotion
- Inflate: Make bigger
- Inflect: Change form or tone
- Inflict: Cause harm or suffering
- Infract: Break a rule or law
- Infringe: Violate rights or laws
- Infuriate: Make very angry
- Infuse: Fill or introduce gradually
- Ingest: Take in (especially food)
- Ingratiate: Gain favor through pleasant behavior
- Inhabit: Live in
- Inhibit: Restrain or prevent
- Initiate: Begin or introduce
- Innovate: Introduce new ideas or methods
- Inquire: Ask or investigate
- Inscribe: Carve words in a hard surface
- Insinuate: Suggest indirectly
- Install: Set up equipment in its new place
- Instigate: Cause or escalate a conflict
- Instill: Put (ideas or values) in someone’s belief system
- Institutionalize: Establish as a system or norm
- Insulate: Protect from heat, sound, electricity, or outside influence
Those two cardinals have inhabited my backyard for the last seven years.
The jeweler will inscribe our initials on our wedding rings.
- Write each word on one side of an index card and the definition on the other.
- Go through each card to see how many definitions you remember.
- As you go through the stack, place each card in one of three piles:
- Yes: Totally know the word without having to check
- Maybe: Mostly know the word, but had to double check
- No: Still need to learn the definition
- Review your “maybe” pile until each of those words becomes a “yes.”
- Work on the “no” pile, repeating the process above as needed.
Verbs that start with INT
Most of these verbs start with the Latin prefix “inter-,” which means “between.” For example, if you intercept the ball in football, you get between the person throwing and catching.
- Integrate: Combine into a whole (stop being separated)
- Intensify: Make stronger
- Intercede: Intervene to help
- Intercept: Prevent from happening
- Interface: Interact or connect
- Interject: Interrupt with a remark
- Interlace: Weave together
- Interlock: Fit together securely
- Interlope: Interfere where one is not wanted
- Interlude: Occur between events
- Intermingle: Mix together
- Interoperate: Work together between systems
- Interrogate: Question formally
- Intersect: Cross or overlap
- Intersperse: Scatter among
- Intertwine: Twist together
- Intervene: Interfere with an outcome
- Interweave: Weave together
- Intimate: Hint or suggest
- Intoxicate: Make drunk
- Intrigue: Make curious
- Intubate: Insert a tube for medical purposes
- Intuit: Know by instinct
Even though it’s cold outside, I’m going for a walk because the fresh air invigorates me.
During the class discussion, the instructor interjected to clarify an important point.
Verbs that start with INU–IT
As you study these last few verbs that start with I, consider how verbs often end in “-ate” and “-ize.” The next time you see an unfamiliar word that ends this way, it’s probably also a verb.
- Inundate: Flood or overwhelm
- Inure: Become accustomed to hardship
- Invalidate: Make invalid or ineffective
- Invert: Turn upside down
- Invigorate: Energize
- Invoice: Send a bill to collect payment
- Invoke: Call upon
- Irk: Annoy
- Irradiate: Expose to radiation or spread outward
- Irradicate: Destroy completely
- Irrigate: Supply water to land
- Isolate: Separate
- Italicize: Print in italics
- Itemize: List individually
- Iterate: Do again
Nothing irks me more than the sound of leaf blowers outside my window.
Karla used a spreadsheet to itemize her vintage record collection.
Frequently asked questions about verbs that start with I
- What are some words that start with I and end in T?
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Here are some words that start with I and end in T:
- Nouns that start with I and end in T: Inlet, input, islet, infant, insect, insight, idealist, incident, instinct
- Adjectives that start with I and end in T: Important, independent, intact, illicit, instant (can also be a noun), implicit, indirect, inherent, innocent, intelligent
- Verbs that start with I and end with T: Impart, import, indent, indict, induct, infect, invent, invest, imprint (can also be a noun), inhabit, inherent, inhibit, inspect,
QuillBot’s AI Chat can show you more word lists for the letter I or the letter T, such as 5-letter words that start with I and more.
- What are some action verbs that start with I?
-
Here are some action verbs that start with I:
- Illustrate
- Imitate
- Impersonate
- Impress
- Improve
- Instruct
- Inspire
- Investigate
- Invent
- Invigorate
QuillBot’s AI Chat can show you lists of action verbs and help you study them with example sentences.
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Routh, N. (2026, January 22). 175 Verbs That Start With I | Definitions, Examples & Tips. Quillbot. Retrieved January 23, 2026, from https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/verbs-that-start-with-i/
