Reflection

//ɹɪˈflɛkʃən// noun

noun ·Very common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the image of something as reflected by a mirror (or other reflective material) wordnet
  3. 3
    The property of a propagated wave being thrown back from a surface (such as a mirror). countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    a likeness in which left and right are reversed wordnet
  5. 5
    Something, such as an image, that is reflected. countable, uncountable

    "The dog barked at his own reflection in the mirror."

Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    the ability to reflect beams or rays wordnet
  2. 7
    Careful thought or consideration. countable, uncountable

    "After careful reflection, I have decided not to vote for that proposition."

  3. 8
    a calm, lengthy, intent consideration wordnet
  4. 9
    A representative manifestation or outcome of a condition, trend or trait. countable, uncountable

    "Our recent results are a reflection of the progress we've made as a team."

  5. 10
    a remark expressing careful consideration wordnet
  6. 11
    A representative manifestation or outcome of a condition, trend or trait.; Used to make an implied criticism. countable, uncountable

    "It is a reflection on his character that he never came back to see them."

  7. 12
    expression without words wordnet
  8. 13
    The process or mechanism of determining the capabilities of an object at run-time. countable, uncountable

    "DynamicMBeanFacade uses Java's reflection API to introspect the managed resource and discover data type information for attributes."

  9. 14
    the phenomenon of a propagating wave (light or sound) being thrown back from a surface wordnet
  10. 15
    The folding of a part; a fold. countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    (mathematics) a transformation in which the direction of one axis is reversed wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
contemplationcontemplationexpressionmusingobservationrumination

Example

More examples

"A week's reflection led to a new plan."

Etymology

From Middle French reflexion, reflection, and its source Late Latin reflexio, from the participle stem of reflectō. The current spelling is influenced by reflect. Equivalent to reflect + -ion.

Related phrases

Fresnel reflectionPhong reflectionangle of reflectioncomplete internal reflectionglide reflectionno-reflectionoblique reflectionon reflectionreflection mappingreflection nebulareflection-in-actionreflection-like

More for "reflection"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.