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PlainSpell

reflex

/ˈɹiːflɛks/noun, adjective, verb

reflex is spelled R-E-F-L-E-X: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, reflex means “An automatic response to a simple stimulus which does not require mental processing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of reflex is reflexes.

How many letters and syllables are in reflex?

Letters6: R-E-F-L-E-X
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.8 times per million words; the 16,228th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

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 reflex?

Reflex appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th 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 reflex?

  • /ˈɹiːflɛks/

As a verb (“To bend back or turn back over itself”): /ɹɪˈflɛks/.

Reflex has 2 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)-AcpoKrane-reflex.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-AcpoKrane-reflex_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with reflex?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as reflex.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: flexer.

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 reflex

  • reflexes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • more reflex comparative
  • most reflex superlative
  • reflexing participle, present
  • reflexed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does reflex mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An automatic response to a simple stimulus which does not require mental processing.

    For a while, I shall have to make a conscious effort to smile, nod, stand and perform the thousands of little gestures which constitute life on Earth, and then those gestures will become reflexes again.

  2. 2

    The descendant of an earlier language element, such as a word or phoneme, in a daughter language.

  3. 3

    rareThe ancestor word corresponding to a descendant.

  4. 4

    The descendant of anything from an earlier time, such as a cultural myth.

  5. 5

    A reflection or an image produced by a reflection; the light reflected from an illuminated surface to one in shade.

    A reflex camera uses a mirror to reflect the image onto a ground-glass viewfinder.

adjective

  1. 1

    Bent, turned back or reflected.

  2. 2

    Produced automatically by a stimulus.

  3. 3

    Having greater than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees.

    If the reflex region is the interior of the angle, the dihedral angle is reflex.

  4. 4

    Illuminated by light reflected from another part of the same picture.

verb

  1. 1

    To bend back or turn back over itself.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo reflect (light, sight, etc.).

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo reflect or mirror (an object), to show the image of.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo cast (beams of light) on something.

  5. 5

    To respond to a stimulus.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Reflex in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchréflexe (automatic response), continuateur (the descendant of an earlier language element…)
GermanReflex (automatic response), Kontinuante, Fortsetzer (the descendant of an earlier language element…)
Portuguesereflexo (automatic response)
Spanishreflejo (automatic response), continuador (the descendant of an earlier language element…), réflex (of a type of camera)

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 reflex come from?

From Late Latin reflexus, past participle of reflectere (“to bend back”), equivalent to re- + flex. Photography sense is from noun sense meaning “reflection”. Compare English reflect.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after reflex