Meanings
comparative more retroflex · superlative most retroflex
- Bent or curved backwards.
Synonyms: retroflexed, retroflexive, reflexed, reflected · Antonyms: nonretroflex, unretroflexed
- human sciencesOf pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue is raised and bent backwards, so that the underside of the tongue approaches or touches the palate.
Near-synonyms: subapical, palatal
1 more example
In the case of the Wubuy alveolar versus retroflex contrast for instance, we argue that the phonetic overlap is so great that native listeners can behave as if this were an instance of a good and a 'less good' instance of a single category (CG).
2015 December 4, “Discrimination of Multiple Coronal Stop Contrasts in Wubuy (Australia): A Natural Referent Consonant Account”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI - human sciencesOf pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
Near-synonyms: apical, postalveolar
Synonyms: apical, postalveolar
- human sciencesOf pronunciation in which the blade of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
Near-synonyms: laminal, postalveolar
Synonyms: laminal, postalveolar
plural retroflexes
- human sciencesA consonant pronounced with the underside of the tongue approaching or touching the palate.
- human sciencesA consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue approaching or touching the back of the alveolar ridge.
- human sciencesA consonant pronounced with the blade of the tongue approaching or touching the back of the alveolar ridge.
- general sensehuman sciencesAny of the aforementioned consonants.
present singular third person retroflexes · participle present retroflexing · participle past retroflexed · past retroflexed
- transitiveTo bend or curve backwards.
[…] retroflexing the endoscope tip and mechanically rotating the transducer.
2010, Stephen Nicholls, Stephen Worthley, Cardiovascular Imaging for Clinical Practice, page 123
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBent or curved backwards.
adjectiveOf pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue is raised and bent backwards, so that the underside of the tongue approaches or touches the palate.
adjectiveOf pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
adjectiveOf pronunciation in which the blade of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivebent or curved backward
adjectivepronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back toward the hard palate
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinrētrōflexus
- Englishretroflex
From Latin rētrōflexus, the perfect participle of rētrōflectō (“bend, turn”), from flectō (“bend, turn”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُرْتَدّ
- مُرْتَدّ (murtadd)bent backwards
Bulgarian извит назад
- извит назад (izvit nazad)bent backwards
Chinese Mandarin 卷舌音, 翹舌音 /翘舌音
- 卷舌音 (juǎnshéyīn)any of the retroflex consonants
- 翹舌音 /翘舌音 (qiàoshéyīn)any of the retroflex consonants
- 舌尖後音 /舌尖后音 (shéjiānhòuyīn)any of the retroflex consonants
Dutch retroflex, retroflex
- retroflexof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- retroflexany of the retroflex consonants
Finnish retrofleksinen, taaksepäin taipunut
- retrofleksinenof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- taaksepäin taipunutbent backwards
- retrofleksiany of the retroflex consonants
French rétroflexe
- rétroflexeof any of the retroflex pronunciations
German retroflex, subapiko-palatal
- retroflexof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- subapiko-palatalof pronunciation in which the tongue underside approaches/touches the palate
- apiko-postalveolarof pronunciation in which the tongue tip approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- lamino-postalveolarof pronunciation in which the tongue blade approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- Retroflexany of the retroflex consonants
Greek ανάστροφο
- ανάστροφο (anástrofo)of any of the retroflex pronunciations
Irish aislúbtha
- aislúbthaof any of the retroflex pronunciations
Japanese そり舌音, 反り舌音
- そり舌音 (sorijitaon)any of the retroflex consonants
- 反り舌音 (sorijitaon)any of the retroflex consonants
Norwegian Bokmål retrofleks, sub-apikal prepalatal
- retrofleksof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- sub-apikal prepalatalof pronunciation in which the tongue underside approaches/touches the palate
- sub-apikal palatalof pronunciation in which the tongue underside approaches/touches the palate
- apikal postalveolarof pronunciation in which the tongue tip approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- laminal postalveolarof pronunciation in which the tongue blade approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
Polish z retrofleksją, retrofleksyjny
- z retrofleksjąof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- retrofleksyjnyof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- wygięty do tyłubent backwards
- subapikalno-prepalatalnyof pronunciation in which the tongue underside approaches/touches the palate
- subapikalno-palatalnyof pronunciation in which the tongue underside approaches/touches the palate
- apikalno-zadziąsłowyof pronunciation in which the tongue tip approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- apikalno-postalweolarnyof pronunciation in which the tongue tip approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- laminalno-zadziąsłowyof pronunciation in which the tongue blade approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- laminalno-postalweolarnyof pronunciation in which the tongue blade approaches/touches the back of the alveolar ridge
- spółgłoska z retrofleksjąany of the retroflex consonants
- spółgłoska retrofleksyjnaany of the retroflex consonants
- spółgłoska subapikalno-prepalatalnaconsonant pronounced with the tongue underside approaching/touching the palate
- spółgłoska subapikalno-palatalnaconsonant pronounced with the tongue underside approaching/touching the palate
- spółgłoska apikalno-zadziąsłowaconsonant pronounced with the tongue tip approaching/touching the back of the alveolar ridge
- spółgłoska apikalno-postalweolarnaconsonant pronounced with the tongue tip approaching/touching the back of the alveolar ridge
- spółgłoska laminalno-zadziąsłowaconsonant pronounced with the tongue blade approaching/touching the back of the alveolar ridge
- spółgłoska laminalno-postalweolarnaconsonant pronounced with the tongue blade approaching/touching the back of the alveolar ridge
Portuguese retroflexo, retroflexo
- retroflexoof any of the retroflex pronunciations
- retroflexobent backwards
- retroflexaany of the retroflex consonants
Punjabi ਟਵਰਗ, ٹَوَرْگ
- ਟਵਰਗ (ṭavrag)of any of the retroflex pronunciations
- ٹَوَرْگ (ṭauarg)of any of the retroflex pronunciations
Russian ретрофле́ксный, ретрофле́ксный согла́сный
- ретрофле́ксный (retrofléksnyj)of any of the retroflex pronunciations
- ретрофле́ксный согла́сный (retrofléksnyj soglásnyj)any of the retroflex consonants
Swedish retroflex
- retroflexof any of the retroflex pronunciations
Thai เสียงปลายลิ้นม้วน
- เสียงปลายลิ้นม้วนany of the retroflex consonants
Welsh olblyg
- olblygof any of the retroflex pronunciations
Cite this entry
retroflex. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retroflex
“retroflex.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retroflex. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retroflex,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retroflex.
Source: retroflex on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.