- the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected
- something reflected or the image so produced, as by a mirror
- careful or long consideration or thought
- implicit or explicit attribution of discredit or blame
- a transformation in which the direction of one axis is reversed or which changes the sign of one of the variables
- the bending back of a structure or part upon itself
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
re•flec•tion /rɪˈflɛkʃən/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected:[uncountable]the reflection of the sun on the water.
- [countable] something reflected, as an image.
- careful consideration:[uncountable]After much reflection I've come to a decision.
- a thought that occurs when thinking about or considering something:[countable]published his reflections on the years of his presidency.
- an indication or expression of something unfavorable with respect to a person or thing:[countable]meant no reflection on your honesty or integrity.
re•flec•tion
(ri flek′shən),USA pronunciation n.
re•flec′tion•al, adj.
re•flec′tion•less, adj.
- the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
- an image;
representation;
counterpart. - a fixing of the thoughts on something;
careful consideration. - a thought occurring in consideration or meditation.
- an unfavorable remark or observation.
- the casting of some imputation or reproach.
- Optics, Physics[Physics, Optics.]
- the return of light, heat, sound, etc., after striking a surface.
- something so reflected, as heat or esp. light.
- Mathematics
- (in a plane) the replacement of each point on one side of a line by the point symmetrically placed on the other side of the line.
- (in space) the replacement of each point on one side of a plane by the symmetric point on the other side of the plane.
- Anatomythe bending or folding back of a part upon itself.
- Late Latin reflexiōn- (stem of reflexiō) a bending back, equivalent. to Latin reflex(us) (see reflex) + -iōn- -ion
- Middle English 1350–1400
re•flec′tion•less, adj.
- 3. meditation, rumination, deliberation, cogitation, study, thinking. 5. imputation, aspersion, reproach, criticism.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
reflection, (less commonly) reflexion /rɪˈflɛkʃən/ n
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'reflection' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
affine
- angle of reflection
- density
- diffusion
- echo
- focal point
- ghost
- halation
- meditation
- moonlight
- Narcissus
- nebula
- parhelic circle
- phenomenon
- rainbow
- reflect
- reflectance
- reflection density
- reflective
- reflet
- reflex
- reflexion
- repercussion
- scatter
- schiller
- shadow
- sheet lightning
- skip distance
- skip zone
- snow-blind
- target
- thought
- total internal reflection
- white
- zodiacal light
- absent-minded
- absorb
- afterthought
- aglint
- animadversion
- antanaclasis
- antireflection coating
- AOR
- blackbody
- Bragg's law
- catacaustic
- catadioptric
- ceilometer
- cogitation
- communications satellite
