genuflection
Americannoun
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Or is something else happening; is the press manifesting an unadmitted genuflection to raw power, exercised arbitrarily, out of calculated self-preservation?
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2024
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
“It’s gracious. It makes a genuflection in the direction of Biden and America without actually giving anything away.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
Two priests only, clothed in fine linen, served the Mass: ornaments of candles, incense, prostration, genuflection, there were none.
From Earthwork out of Tuscany Being Impressions and Translations of Maurice Hewlett by Hewlett, Maurice Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
