refract

[ri-frakt] / rɪˈfrækt /

VERB

bend

Synonyms

STRONG

angle arch bow buckle camber careen circle contort crimp crinkle crook crouch curl deflect deform detour double droop flex genuflect hook incline incurvate lean loop pervert round spiral stoop swerve tilt turn twist veer verge warp waver wilt wind yaw zigzag

WEAK

angle away angle off

Antonyms

STRONG

beautify rise smooth straighten

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Their stories reflect and refract the themes of “On the Road” for today.

From Salon • Jul. 30, 2025

“We mourn her loss but it’s a comfort to know that her penetrating works will dazzle, shine and refract in the minds of readers for generations to come,” Farmer said.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 17, 2023

The demise of languages winnows the number of prisms through which to refract the world.

From Washington Post • Apr. 19, 2023

Recent Barth still-life pictures of vessels on a tabletop refract the light, holding it within volumes while you remember the clusters of bottles and bowls in the paintings of Giorgio Morandi.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2023

But it could not show the mechanism which causes light to reflect or refract, or the particles that cause smells.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton