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Glite Dictionary
🪞 To show feelings 🤔 To think deeply 🔆 To bounce back
to reflect

to reflect

149 2.6
To send back light or an image from a surface like a mirror
  • verb
  • /rɪˈflɛkt/
translation icon : reflejar
  • The mirror on the wall reflects the light from the lamp.
  • reflect light
  • reflect sunlight
  • reflect back

The ocean is blue because it reflects the sky.

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Examples

  • I looked at the two of us reflected in the mirror above the bureau.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The ocean is blue because it reflects the sky.

    Smosh Pit

  • This paint can reflect heat.

    Phua Chu Kang The Movie (2010)

  • And again in turn the door will reflect some of that scattered light.

  • What happens if you shoot a ray out and it reflects off here?

  • Our lights reflecting off the water.

    Grim (1996)

  • Do not turn around until you see light reflected on the hills.

    Oppenheimer (2023)

  • I saw him, reflected in the mirror.

    Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

  • The moon is only bright 'cause it reflects the sunshine.

  • Objects, yes, objects can reflect light coming from light bulbs and so on.

Synonyms

to mirror
vsto reflect
65 2.1

To show the same thing or feeling as something else

send back light heat or sound as well as images
to act like a mirror
vsto reflect
3.5

Send back light and show a clear image of things nearby

send back light or sound but not always perfectly

Antonyms

to absorb
217 3.0

To take in things such as liquid, light, or information

to transmit
84 3.9

To let sound, light, or energy pass through something

Phrasal Verbs

to reflect on
120 4.0

To think carefully about something and what it means

How Reflective

to mirror
65 2.1
to reflect
149 2.6
to scatter
110 2.7
to absorb
217 3.0

Surface Forms

reflect infinitive
reflected past
reflected past participle
reflecting present participle
reflects third person singular

Morphology

reflect = re + flect

Although the prefix 're-' is recognizable, the root 'flect' is a Latin combining form and not a standalone English word, so a typical learner cannot derive the meanings from the parts.

Etymology

The word reflect comes from re- 'back' and flect 'bend', so it meant 'bend back'. That is what a mirror or calm water does when it sends light or an image back to you, which is why reflect means to send back light, sound, or an image.