genuflect

[jen-yoo-flekt]

verb (used without object)

1. to bend the knee or touch one knee to the floor in reverence or worship.

2. to express a servile attitude.

genuflect

/ ˈdʒɛnjʊˌflɛkt /

verb

1. to act in a servile or deferential manner

2. RC Church to bend one or both knees as a sign of reverence, esp when passing before the Blessed Sacrament

Other Word Forms

• genuflector noun
• genuflection noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of genuflect¹

1620–30; < Medieval Latin genūflectere to bend the knee, equivalent to Latin genū-, stem of genu knee + flectere to bend

Word History and Origins

Origin of genuflect¹

C17: from Medieval Latin genūflectere, from Latin genu knee + flectere to bend

Example Sentences

The clip in question sees Deen sitting in the “Today Show” studio, practically genuflecting to the camera after being grilled for 15 straight minutes on live television.

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Without anything divine to revere, American home and landscape design largely genuflects at the altar of the market.

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Every press briefing begins and ends with blaming Joe Biden for everything Trump claims is going wrong – while genuflecting at Trump’s knees for making things right again.

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He’s genuflecting and appears penitent, it’s him with no public or private, shipwrecked in place in a way.

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Their private "meetings with no notes" and Trump's embarrassing public genuflecting to the Russian leader over the years had been fully reported.

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