reflection
noun
Simple meaning
A remark expressing careful consideration.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ruhflehkshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹəfˈlɛkʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
The image of something as reflected by a mirror (or other reflective material)
“He studied his reflection in the mirror.”
Something, such as an image, that is reflected.
A remark expressing careful consideration
Careful thought or consideration.
The phenomenon of a propagating wave (light or sound) being thrown back from a surface
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
Used this way, reflection is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- reflexion , used mainly in Regional English
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use reflection
- “He studied his reflection in the mirror.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
The fraction of radiant energy that is reflected from a surface.
A political demonstration or protest.
The state of being considered or planned.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The fraction of radiant energy that is reflected from a surface.
The fraction of radiant energy that is reflected from a surface.
The angle between a reflected ray and a line perpendicular to the reflecting surface at the point of incidence.
The repetition of a sound resulting from reflection of the sound waves.
Parity is conserved in a universe in which the laws of physics are the same in a right-handed system of coordinates as in a left-handed system.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- mirrornoun
- reflectiveadjective
- impedancenoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: reflecting
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.