FromMedieval Latinreflexīvus, fromLatinreflexus, equivalent toreflex +-ive.
reflexive (notcomparable)
- (grammar) Referring back to thesubject, or having anobject equal to the subject.
- (mathematics) Of arelationR on asetS, such thatxRx for allmembersx ofS (that is, the relation holds between any element of the set and itself).
"Equals" is areflexive relation, as it holds for all possible x; "not less" isnon-reflexive because it is true only for some x and y, "unequal" isirreflexive, as it never holds between x and itself.
- Of or resulting from areflex.
The electric shock elicited an automatic andreflexive response from him.
- (figurative) Producing immediate response,spontaneous.
areflexive dislike
- (politics) Producing or provoking areciprocal response.
2025 April 24, Christina Harward, Daria Novikov, Anna Harvey, Grace Mappes, George Barros, Nate Trotter, William Runkel, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 24, 2025”, inUkraine Project,Institute for the Study of War:Shoigu's thinly veiled nuclear threats against NATO are part of the Kremlin's broaderreflexive control campaign to influence Western decision-making in Russia's favor and against Western states' own interests. Shoigu's nuclear threats are attempts to push European states to self-deter and reduce their buildups of their defenses – leaving NATO's eastern border largely undefended. Thesereflexive control efforts are in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2021 demand before launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine that NATO not deploy any military forces to states that became NATO members after 1997, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
- Synonym ofreflective.
reflexive (pluralreflexives)
- (grammar) Areflexive pronoun.
- (grammar) Areflexive verb.
reflexive
- inflection ofreflexiv:
- strong/mixednominative/accusativefemininesingular
- strongnominative/accusativeplural
- weaknominative all-gendersingular
- weakaccusativefeminine/neutersingular
reflexīvē (notcomparable)
- reflexively
reflexīve
- vocativemasculinesingular ofreflexīvus
reflexive on Wikipedia.Wikipedia