MEANING
1. To bend or redirect light or another wave as it passes through material with different propagation properties.
2. To transform or present something through a medium or perspective that changes how it is perceived.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- refract light
- a refracted beam
On the page
The water refracted the light and displaced the apparent edge of the submerged step.
The prism refracted the beam toward the marked screen.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- refract
- Past tense
- refracted
- Past participle
- refracted
- Present participle
- refracting
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- refract
- Present continuous
- am/is/are refracting
- Present perfect
- have/has refracted
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been refracting
- Past
- refracted
- Past continuous
- was/were refracting
- Past perfect
- had refracted
- Past perfect continuous
- had been refracting
- Future
- will refract
- Future continuous
- will be refracting
- Future perfect
- will have refracted
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been refracting
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: refract; refracts; refracted; refracted; refracting Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: refracts.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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