reflex
noun /ˈriːfleks/
/ˈriːfleks/
- an action or a movement of your body that happens naturally in response to something and that you cannot control; something that you do without thinking
- The doctor tested her reflexes.
- to have quick/slow reflexes
- a reflex response/reaction
- Only the goalkeeper's reflexes (= his ability to react quickly) stopped the ball from going in.
- Almost as a reflex action, I grab my pen as the phone rings.
Extra Examples- Almost by reflex, he helped himself to a drink.
- He reacts with lightning fast reflexes.
- The rapid movement of an object close to the eye triggers an automatic reflex.
- The training is designed to sharpen the fighter's reflexes.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- fast
- good
- lightning
- …
- trigger
- control
- hone
- …
- action
- response
- by reflex
Word Originearly 16th cent. (as a noun denoting reflection): from Latin reflexus ‘a bending back’, from reflectere ‘bend back’, from re- ‘back’ + flectere ‘to bend’.