genuflection

American  

[jen-yoo-flek-shuhn] / ˌdʒɛn yʊˈflɛk ʃən /

especially British, genuflexion

noun

1. an act of bending the knee or touching it to the ground in reverence or worship.

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Etymology

Origin of genuflection

First recorded in 1520–30, genuflection is from the Medieval Latin word genūflexiōn- (stem of genūflexiō ). See genuflect, -ion

Example Sentences

He saw the tribal genuflection as “an empty, performative act” that implied “UW’s presence is somehow illegitimate, shameful, morally wrong.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025

Much as there is for its fans to mourn about the alleged closure of the “Downton Abbey” franchise, I won’t miss the increasingly tone-deaf genuflection before the glamour of British privilege.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2025

Still, they’ve all grown too used to each other to engage in much genuflection: When you treat an awards campaign like a full-time job, the other contenders might as well be your co-workers.

From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2024

But Adam didn’t do rhyme and meter, for one thing — too much like mandatory genuflection in church, he once remarked.

From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2023

As they passed this ground, each of the girls, Naida leading, made a strange little bowing, gliding genuflection, and Kirby wondered.

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, December 1930 by Various