Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Marked by or exhibiting a lack of serious thought or consideration.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective done without reflection or thought; impulsive
  • adjective that does not reflect light or sound

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word unreflecting.

Examples

  • He wished, as a pretended umpire and benefactor, to impose his lasting sceptre on the one people, and to hold in unreflecting subjection the other.

    The Scottish Chiefs 1875

  • I involuntarily advanced my hand towards her, and she gave me hers with a kind of unreflecting frankness.

    Italian Letters, Vols. I and II The History of the Count de St. Julian William Godwin 1796

  • So who exactly does Sarah Palin think she is helping with her unreflecting and offensively ill-informed statement?

    Palin warns of 'Second Holocaust' if Iran gains nuclear weapons 2010

  • I remember when you were a boy you wished to make your fine new whip a present to old Aunt Peggy, merely because she admired it; and now, with like unreflecting and inappropriate liberality, you would resign your beloved to a smoke-dried young sophister, who cares not one of the hairs which it is his occupation to split, for all the daughters of Eve.

    Redgauntlet 2008

  • The observations of Camilla had broken that spell with which a first declaration of regard is apt to entangle unreflecting inexperience; and by teaching her to less value the votary, had made the conquest less an object of satisfaction.

    Camilla 2008

  • Those eyes, thought he, which I have gazed at whole days with such unreflecting admiration; and whose shape, colour, size, and sweet proportion still hold their pre-eminence, now, while retaining their first lustre, have lost all their illusory charm!

    Camilla 2008

  • Tears started into her eyes at the doubt; she did not hear her uncle's answer; she rose to hurry out of the room; but before she could escape, the big drops rolled fast down her cheeks; and, when arrived at her chamber, 'I have lost him!' she cried, 'by my own unreflecting precipitance; I have lost him, perhaps, for ever!'

    Camilla 2008

  • The seemingly unreflecting earnestness of it makes me uneasy, uncomfortable.

    From The Archive: British and Proud of It David Hadley 2008

  • Nothing could be less pleasant to Camilla than raillery which pointed out, that, even by the unreflecting Lionel, this action could be ascribed to but one motive.

    Camilla 2008

  • This ascendance was soon pointed out by the servants to Indiana, who sometimes shewed her resentment in unexplained and pouting sullenness, and at others, let all pass unnoticed, with unreflecting forgetfulness.

    Camilla 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.