Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense genuflects, present participle genuflecting, past tense, past participle genuflected
1. verb
If you genuflect, you bend one or both knees and bow, especially in church, as a sign of respect.
[formal]
He genuflected in front of the altar. [VERB]
2. verb
You can say that someone is genuflectingto something when they are giving it a great deal of attention and respect, especially if you think it does not deserve this.
[mainly journalism, disapproval]
They refrained from genuflecting to the laws of political economy. [VERB + to]
[Also VERB preposition]
genuflect in British English
(ˈdʒɛnjʊˌflɛkt)
verb(intransitive)
1.
to act in a servile or deferential manner
2. Roman Catholic Church
to bend one or both knees as a sign of reverence, esp when passing before the Blessed Sacrament
Derived forms
genuflection (ˌgenuˈflection) or especially British genuflexion (ˌgenuˈflexion)
noun
genuflector (ˈgenuˌflector)
noun
Word origin
C17: from Medieval Latin genūflectere, from Latin genu knee + flectere to bend
genuflect in American English
(ˈdʒɛnjəˌflɛkt)
verb intransitive
1.
to bend the knee, as in reverence or worship
2.
to act in a submissive or servile way
Derived forms
genuflection (ˌgenuˈflection)
noun
Word origin
ML(Ec) genuflectere < L genu, knee + flectere, to bend: see flex1
Examples of 'genuflect' in a sentence
genuflect
She never came, and when I slid out of the pew to leave I had to resist the impulse to genuflect - or at least nod - towards the altar.
Tapply, William G FOLLOW THE SHARKS (1993)
The story of how Francis brought the Poor Ladies a lamb he had trained to genuflect has the ring of truth to it.