Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to act reflexively

to act reflexively

6.3
React quickly without thinking
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : actuar de forma reflexiva
  • Whenever startled, she tends to act reflexively rather than consider her response.

Examples

  • Many animals act reflexively when they sense danger, moving instantly to protect themselves.

  • If you act reflexively in stressful situations, you might regret your decisions later.

  • He tends to act reflexively when startled.

  • Do you act reflexively in stressful situations?

  • Many animals act reflexively when they sense danger, moving instantly to protect themselves.

  • If you act reflexively in stressful situations, you might regret your decisions later.

  • Whenever startled, she tends to act reflexively rather than consider her response.

Synonyms

to act involuntarily
vsto act reflexively
6.5

Do something without meaning to or being in control

responds automatically to a stimulus without conscious thought

How Automatic

to act reflexively
6.3
to react
776 2.8
to respond
∞ 1.0
to consider
∞ 1.1

Surface Forms

act reflexively infinitive
acted reflexively past
acted reflexively past participle
acting reflexively present participle
acts reflexively third person singular

Morphology

act + reflexively

The meaning 'to respond automatically without conscious thought' is directly and compositionally derived from 'act' (to do something) modified by 'reflexively' (involuntary/automatic); there is no idiomatic shift. This manner-adverb construction is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Act reflexively comes from the body's reflex action, like the quick knee-jerk when a doctor taps your knee. That's why it means 'to respond automatically' or 'without thinking'.