Meaning & use
reflex
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Meanings
nouncountablebiologymedical
A quick, automatic movement of the body that happens in response to something, without the person deciding to do it.
Grammar: Often used in the plural for general response speed: her reflexes are sharp.
Patterns
- a reflex to something
- test someone's reflexes
The doctor tapped my knee to test my reflex.
Blinking is a reflex that protects the eye.
He pulled his hand from the stove by reflex before he even felt the heat.
nouncountablefigurative
A habitual response that happens without thought, such as a quick emotional or mental reaction.
Grammar: Often figurative: a reflex of kindness.
Patterns
- a reflex of something
Saying sorry became a reflex for her whenever there was tension.
Checking his phone was a reflex he could not break.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Happening automatically, as a direct response and without thought.
Grammar: Always comes before a noun: reflex action.
Patterns
- reflex action
- reflex response
Coughing is a reflex action to clear the airway.
Her reflex response was to duck.
Word forms
| plural | reflexes |
|---|
Common combinations
- quick reflexes
- The goalkeeper's quick reflexes saved the penalty.
- knee-jerk reflex
- The doctor checked the knee-jerk reflex.
- gag reflex
- Dentists work gently to avoid the gag reflex.
- conditioned reflex
- A conditioned reflex is learned through repeated experience.
- reflex action
- Pulling away from a hot pan is a reflex action.
- test reflexes
- The nurse tested the baby's reflexes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reaction
- Reaction is broader and may be thoughtful, while reflex is automatic and involuntary.
- instinct
- Instinct is an inborn tendency that guides behavior over time, while a reflex is a quick bodily response to one trigger.
- response
- Response is a neutral word for any answer, deliberate or not.
- impulse
- Impulse is a sudden urge to act that you may follow or resist, while a reflex cannot be resisted.
Opposites
Word family
- reflexive adjective
- done as a reflex, or in grammar referring back to the subject
- reflexively adverb
- automatically, without thinking
- reflexes noun
- plural, a person's general speed of reaction
- reflexology noun
- a type of massage that presses points on the feet
Commonly confused: reflex or reflect?
reflex vs reflect
Reflect means to throw back light or to think carefully, while a reflex is an automatic response.
Practice
When the doctor taps below your kneecap, your leg kicks without you deciding to. This is an example of a:
Choose one answer.
A reflex is an automatic bodily response; a choice or decision is deliberate, and a habit is learned through repetition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reflex”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.