reflective

Language: en

🇺🇸 /rɪˈflɛktɪv/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Capable of reflecting light, sound, or other forms of energy; having a surface that sends back rays, waves, or particles.; Characterized by deep thought; contemplative or meditative in nature.; Designed to reflect light for safety purposes, as in clothing or road markings.; Serving to reflect or represent something; indicative or expressive of a particular quality or condition.; Relating to or involving reflection as a process of thinking about one's own experiences, actions, or beliefs, especially for the purpose of learning or improvement.; Of or relating to a type of telescope or optical instrument that uses mirrors rather than lenses to form images.; In computing, describing a system or language that can examine and modify its own structure and behavior at runtime.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Comparative: more reflective Superlative: most reflective

Collocations

reflective surfacereflective practicereflective thinkinghighly reflectivereflective materialreflective mood

Derivatives

reflectreflectionreflectivelyreflectivenessreflectorunreflectivereflectivity

Synonyms

contemplativethoughtfulmeditativeintrospectivespeculativepensive

Antonyms

unreflectivethoughtlessimpulsive

Commonly confused

reflexive
EN: 'Reflexive' refers to an automatic, involuntary response or a grammatical construction (reflexive pronoun); 'reflective' refers to deliberate, thoughtful contemplation or the physical property of reflecting light.
reflectant
EN: 'Reflectant' is a rare/archaic variant meaning the same as 'reflective'; 'reflective' is the standard modern form.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember that 'reflective' retains the 'ct' from 'reflect' before the '-ive' suffix; do not write *'reflecive'.

💬 Examples

  1. The reflective surface of the lake mirrored the mountains perfectly.

  2. She sat in a reflective mood, pondering the events of the past year.

  3. Cyclists should wear reflective vests when riding at night.

  4. The survey results are reflective of public opinion on the issue.

  5. The teacher kept a reflective journal to improve her pedagogical methods.

  6. The Hubble Space Telescope is a reflective telescope with a 2.4-meter primary mirror.

  7. Java is a reflective language that allows programs to inspect their own classes and methods.