reflexive
adjective
Simple meaning
Referring back to the subject, or having an object equal to the subject.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ruhflehksivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹəfˈlɛksɪv
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.
adjective
grammar
Referring back to the subject, or having an object equal to the subject.
mathematics
Of a relation R on a set S, such that xRx for all members x of S (that is, the relation holds between any element of the set and itself).
Of or resulting from a reflex.
figurative
Producing immediate response, spontaneous.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Referring back to the subject, or having an object equal to the subject.
Used this way, reflexive is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a grammar or language-study use: it describes how language works, so it appears in teaching and reference writing.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.