reflexive
Americanadjective
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Grammar.
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(of a verb) taking a subject and object with identical referents, as shave in I shave myself.
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(of a pronoun) used as an object to refer to the subject of a verb, as myself in I shave myself.
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reflex; responsive.
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able to reflect; reflective.
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Mathematics.
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noting a relation in which each element is in relation to itself, as the relation “less than or equal to.”
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(of a vector space) having the property that the dual space of the dual space of the given vector space equals the given vector space.
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noun
adjective
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denoting a class of pronouns that refer back to the subject of a sentence or clause. Thus, in the sentence that man thinks a great deal of himself , the pronoun himself is reflexive
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denoting a verb used transitively with the reflexive pronoun as its direct object, as the French se lever "to get up" (literally "to raise oneself") or English to dress oneself
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physiol of or relating to a reflex
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logic maths (of a relation) holding between any member of its domain and itself Compare irreflexive nonreflexive
"… is a member of the same family as …" is reflexive
noun
Other Word Forms
- reflexively adverb
- reflexiveness noun
- reflexivity noun
- semireflexive adjective
- semireflexively adverb
- semireflexiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of reflexive
First recorded in 1580–90, reflexive is from the Medieval Latin word reflexīvus turned back, reflected. See reflex, -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Chip’s need for connection and reflexive sense of entitlement proves disastrous — the story isn’t going the way he wanted, and Groff allows it to collapse on him.
From Los Angeles Times
For the hedge knight who inspired Baelor’s intervention, the motives are more reflexive.
From Salon
He runs through the familiar GenAI hazards—hallucinations, bias, privacy concerns and the challenge of regulation—yet refuses to indulge reflexive skeptics and their “grave reservations.”
That outlook produces the type of humor that isn’t going for reflexive laughter or stringing one rock solid punchline to the next.
From Salon
When we reflexively smile upon observing someone else’s joy, we feel their happiness.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
