unreflectiveadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnrᵻˈflɛktɪv/, U.S. /ˌənrəˈflɛktɪv/ 1. Not engaged in or characterized by introspection or deliberation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > lack of reflection > [adjective]
inconsiderable1640
unreflective1641
unconsidering1660
unreflecting1665
unthinking1676
unrevolving1758
unmeditative1823
unspeculating1828
irreflective1833
1641 J. Johnson Acad. Love 12 This lingring stop, which you now practise, argues not so much a fainting spirit; as an unreflective and dull wit.
a1812 E. Helme Mod. Times (1814) I. viii. 182 She eminently possessed qualifications particularly calculated to please the gay and unreflective mind.
1854 M. Faraday in Lect. Educ. (Royal Inst.) ii. 43 Our sense perceptions are wonderful. Even in the observant, but unreflective infant, they soon produce a result which looks like intuition, because of its perfection.
1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. iii. 95 The unreflective fetichism of the savage.
1926 C. L. Morgan Life, Mind, & Spirit v. 132 Three main levels of reference may be distinguished... The mid-level is that of cognitive reference, as yet unreflective.
1958 Amer. Bar Assoc. Jrnl. June 1161/3 The lawyer cannot be guided solely by an unreflective inner sense of good faith.
2012 E. Rietveld in F. Paglieri Consciousness in Interaction ii. 207 There are important structural similarities in the way that animals and humans engage in unreflective activities.
2. Of a surface: not reflecting light, heat, etc.
ΚΠ
1738 R. Smith Compl. Syst. Opticks II. Remarks 64/1 Such a pellucid unreflective atmosphere would indeed have been very commodious for astronomical observations.
1851 Monthly Notices Royal Astron. Soc. 11 51 A very dull, unreflective portion of the moon.
1881 Academy 21 Jan. 52 The copy having the same tone and unreflective surface as the original painting.
1984 N. Barstad & A. Mickunas tr. J. Gebser Ever-present Origin ii. 67 The ‘blind’ or unreflective side of the mirror is necessary to produce the visible reflection.
2008 T. Geary Illustr. Bead Bible ii.189 A bead finish with a satin, sometimes dull, unreflective surface.
Derivatives
unreˈflectively adv. in an unreflective manner; without deliberation.
ΚΠ
1830 R. Montgomery Satan iii. 320 But oh, how bounded would my kingdom be, If what is life in common language deem'd, Which unreflectively hath flow'd away, Were all the law of Being did require!
1939 H. M. Tomlinson Day Before xviii. 105 He laughed unreflectively.
1996 Daily Express 26 June 8/3 For most of the time,..we act unreflectively but the question can always be put: ‘Why are you doing that?’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1641