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.
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
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
At earlier hearings, university presidents opted for strategies of conciliatory genuflection or drab, lawyerly answers.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2024
The Times’ special NFL Preview special section was marked by its metaphorical genuflection at wealth’s excesses reminiscent perhaps only of Ancient Rome.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2020
He grovelled again, and shuffled off, turning at every few steps to make a genuflection.
From The Red Symbol by John Ironside
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
