reflective
/ɹɪˈflɛktɪv/
reflective adjective: that reflects, or redirects back to the source.
Adjective
reflective (comparative more reflective, superlative most reflective)
- That reflects, or redirects back to the source.
- Mirrors are reflective.
- The structure's exterior is clad in aluminum-oxidized pine, which gives it a reflective quality that complements the galvanized-steel roof.2026 May, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 93
- Pondering, especially thinking back on the past.
- He always becomes reflective in preparation for the new year.
- Type 1 processes are effortless recognition of objects or situations as of a type that have been encountered previously. In an osteological context, an example would be recognition of a bone as a femur or a humerus. Type 2 processes are slower, reflective and effortful. The application of specific...2023, Simon Mays, “The Macroscopic Study of Human Skeletal Paleopathology” (chapter 2), in The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology, Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, page 25
- That reveals or shows; revealing; indicative of.
- Both brides and grooms in native Hawaiian tradition wear flower garlands as a physical manifestation of their love for one another, and to some, the twining of the stems is reflective of two families now becoming one. A more tourist-friendly version established in the past couple of decades...2013 August 30, Kat Kinsman, “Something borrowed: Wedding traditions from around the world”, in CNN
- In any event, the incident, and the media attention it attracted, highlights the sensitivity of language politics in Singapore and is reflective of the fact that this sensitivity extends to campus life.2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 3
- Involving reflection.
- By means of reflection.
- In JIT compilation, the running program is reflectively modified by an embedded compiler, which only uses two reflective operations […]2024, Egon Börger, Vincenzo Gervasi, Structures of Computing: A Guide to Practice-Oriented Theory, page 108
- Reciprocal.
Noun
reflective (plural reflectives)
- A supposed organ of the brain, dealing with abstract reasoning.
- Then why not subdivide the reflectives and perceptives into distinct organs having special relations to external objects, as well as divide the intellect into a reflective and a perceptive portion?1872, The Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, page 13
reflective meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
reflective in Hindi
- That reflects, or redirects back to the source
- परावर्ती parāvartī
- Pondering, especially thinking back on the past
- मननशील mananśīl
reflective in Tamil
- எதிரொளிக்கிற, வெளிப்படுத்துகிற
reflective in Marathi
- प्रतिबिंबीत
reflective in Bengali
- প্রতিফলনশীল, চিন্তাশীল
More languagesFewer languages
- reflective in Telugu
- ప్రతిబింబించేది
- reflective in Malayalam
- ചിന്തിക്കുന്ന, വിചാരപൂർണ്ണ, ആലോചനാനിരതമായ
- reflective in Kannada
- ಪ್ರತಿಬಿಂಬಿತ
- reflective in Punjabi
- ਪ੍ਰਤੀਬਿੰਬਤ
- reflective in Gujarati
- પ્રતિબિંબીત
- reflective in Odia
- ପ୍ରତିଫଳନଶୀଳ
- reflective in Indonesian
- reflektif
Examples of reflective in a sentence
- The building, towering over its surroundings with its square concrete frame and reflective walls of gold-tinted glass, was an eyesore visible throughout the city.
- They chose cabinets with reflective acrylic doors and stainless steel accents to accomplish that.
- So she’s very popular around the office with her reflective Tobagonian eyes and apple cheeks.
Forms of reflective
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more reflective |
| superlative | most reflective |
| Noun | |
| plural | reflectives |
Origin of reflective
From reflect + -ive.
Words formed from reflective
- antireflective
- coreflective
- echoreflective
- hyperreflective
- hyporeflective
- irreflective
- metareflective
- nonreflective
- overreflective
- prereflective
- reflectively
- reflectiveness
- reflective programming
- reflectivism
- reflectivist
- reflectivity
- retroreflective
- self-reflective
- semireflective
- thermoreflective
- transflective
- unreflective
Words that rhyme with reflective
- projective
- subjective
- effective
- objective
- prospective
- collective
- connective
- defective
- directive
- respective
- selective
- injective
28 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- detective
- elective
- irrespective
- perfective
- retrospective
- affective
- bijective
- corrective
- erective
- ineffective
- inflective
- intellective
- intersubjective
- protective
- refective
- advective
- convective
- deflective
- ejective
- imperfective
- infective
- inspective
- introspective
- overprotective
- rejective
- surjective
- unreflective
- unselective
Questions about reflective
- What does reflective mean?
- Reflective means that reflects, or redirects back to the source.
- What is reflective in Hindi?
- Reflective in Hindi is परावर्ती (parāvartī), मननशील (mananśīl). See Reflective meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is reflective?
- Reflective can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce reflective?
- Reflective is pronounced /ɹɪˈflɛktɪv/.
Words near reflective in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: reflective (page history and authors); reflective (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reflective (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reflective (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reflective (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reflective (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reflective (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reflective (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reflective (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reflective (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-reflective.wav.
Cite this entry: “reflective.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reflective. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.