retroflex
/ˈɹɛt.ɹəʊ.flɛks/
"retroflex" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retroflex” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bent or curved backwards.
Corpus desk
Index EN-retroflex · retroflex · English
retroflex · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retroflex |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹɛt.ɹəʊ.flɛks/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “retroflex” in English
Rare enough to double-check
retroflex is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɹɛt.ɹəʊ.flɛks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for retroflex in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin rētrōflexus, the perfect participle of rētrōflectō (“bend, turn”), from flectō (“bend, turn”). The correct English form is retroflex, spelled R-E-T-R-O-F-L-E-X.
Definition
- 1Bent or curved backwards.
- 2Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue is raised and bent backwards, so that the underside of the tongue approaches or touches the palate.
- 3Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
- 4Of pronunciation in which the blade of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
- 5Of any of the aforementioned pronunciations.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how retroflex appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In the case of the Wubuy alveolar versus retroflex contrast for instance, we argue that the phonetic overlap is so great that native listeners can behave as if this were an instance of a good and a 'less good' instance of a single category (CG).
Etymology
From Latin rētrōflexus, the perfect participle of rētrōflectō (“bend, turn”), from flectō (“bend, turn”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.