reflective
adjective
Glenda Bailey
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Reflective people are people who reflect on things--that is, look back at things that have been done or said in order to think calmly and quietly about them. Most reflective people would agree with Socrates that (as he told the jury that would soon sentence him to death) "The unexamined life is not worth living". Reflective people tend to be a bit philosophical and intellectual. But almost everyone has reflective moods; gazing into a fireplace or a campfire seems to do it to almost everyone.
Synonyms
Examples of reflective in a Sentence
Ashley Strickland, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Tiger’s smaller fund is both a sign of the times and reflective of how the firm’s LP relationships may be shifting.
—Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
While Etchells is asking for a more reflective relationship with our screens, Haidt implores governments—and parents—to tear up our current approaches and start afresh.
—Matt Reynolds, WIRED, 29 Mar. 2024
In the second, as an older and more reflective man, Martin understands his father on a new level — Martin is careful to keep his own daughter out of the documentary, finding a very funny workaround — and even comes to love and miss him.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Mar. 2024
Last week, the U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, created in 2020 to build a workforce reflective of the nation’s demographic makeup, was dissolved as part of the government spending bill signed into law Saturday.
—Julian Mark, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Sulfur in pollution from ship stacks has also been shown to have a similar reflective effect, although recent research suggests this might have been overestimated in the past.
—Justine Calma, The Verge, 21 Mar. 2024
Such rapid swings — not just in weather but in water reliability — are reflective of the state’s changing climate, officials say.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2024
The menu is a tour-de-force of Nordic cuisine without leaving midtown’s skyscrapers and changes seasonally to match what’s available on the East Coast and reflective of the Swedish palette across the ocean.
—Madeline Weinfield, Travel + Leisure, 22 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reflective.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing reflective
Dictionary Entries Near reflective
Cite this Entry
“Reflective.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reflective. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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reflective
adjective
Medical Definition
reflective
adjective
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