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

To her left, Melvin Gibbs played electric bass—sometimes nonchalantly, sometimes with one bent knee, as if in genuflection.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

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

At earlier hearings, university presidents opted for strategies of conciliatory genuflection or drab, lawyerly answers.

From New York Times • May 9, 2024

“It’s only a movie, and … a much less impressive one than all the accompanying genuflection would have you believe.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2024

It was a Benediction of nature, a genuflection of trees and flowers, singing in the wind, incensing with their perfume the sacred Bread which shone on high, in the flaming custody of the planet.

From En Route by Huysmans, J.-K. (Joris-Karl)