deflection
/dəˈflɛkʃən/noun
deflection is spelled D-E-F-L-E-C-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, deflection means “The act of deflecting or something deflected” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of deflection is deflections.
How many letters and syllables are in deflection?
| Letters | 10: D-E-F-L-E-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is deflection?
Deflection appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce deflection?
- UK /dɪˈflɛkʃən/
- US /dəˈflɛkʃən/
Deflection has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-deflection.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with deflection?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as deflection from its last stressed vowel (/ɛkʃən/):
- section
- direction
- detection
- perfection
- complexion
- interconnection
- imperfection
- flexion
- interjection
- dejection
- circumspection
- bisection
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of deflection
- deflections plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does deflection mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of deflecting or something deflected.
Russell's goalbound shot took a deflection off a defender and went out for a corner.
- 2
Deviation (of a needle or other indicator or mechanism) from a previous position.
- 3
The act of refusing to address something (questions, criticism, etc.).
- 4
The act of rejecting culpability by redirecting blame elsewhere.
- 5
Bending or deformation under load.
- 6
A tactic that forces an opposing piece to leave the square, rank or file it occupies, thus exposing the king or a valuable piece
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Deflection in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of deflecting:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does deflection come from?
From Latin dēflexiō, from dēflectere (“to deflect”; participle stem dēflex-) + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns). The non-etymological spelling deflection is taken from the present stem dēflect-, associated with collection, dissection, etc. By surface analysis, deflect + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).