MEANING
1. Bend one knee toward the ground as a gesture of worship or respect.
2. Express exaggerated or unquestioning respect toward someone or something.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- genuflect before the altar
- genuflect in reverence
On the page
She paused to genuflect before the altar.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- genuflect
- Past tense
- genuflected
- Past participle
- genuflected
- Present participle
- genuflecting
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- genuflect
- Present continuous
- am/is/are genuflecting
- Present perfect
- have/has genuflected
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been genuflecting
- Past
- genuflected
- Past continuous
- was/were genuflecting
- Past perfect
- had genuflected
- Past perfect continuous
- had been genuflecting
- Future
- will genuflect
- Future continuous
- will be genuflecting
- Future perfect
- will have genuflected
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been genuflecting
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror / gothic. Forms: genuflect; genuflects; genuflected; genuflected; genuflecting Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: atmosphere, description. Commonness: uncommon. Third-person singular: genuflects.
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