What is another word for instinctive?

Synonyms for instinctive
ɪnˈstɪŋk tɪv; -tʃu əlin·stinc·tive

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English Synonyms and Antonyms4.0 / 2 votes

  1. instinctive

    That is spontaneous which is freely done, with no external compulsion and, in human actions, without special premeditation or distinct determination of the will; that is voluntary which is freely done with distinct act of will; that is involuntary which is independent of the will, and perhaps in opposition to it; a willing act is not only in accordance with will, but with desire. Thus voluntary and involuntary, which are antonyms of each other, are both partial synonyms of spontaneous. We speak of spontaneous generation, spontaneous combustion, spontaneous sympathy, an involuntary start, an unbidden tear, voluntary agreement, willing submission. A babe's smile in answer to that of its mother is spontaneous; the smile of a pouting child wheedled into good humor is involuntary. In physiology the action of the heart and lungs is called involuntary; the growth of the hair and nails is spontaneous; the action of swallowing is voluntary up to a certain point, beyond which it becomes involuntary or automatic. In the fullest sense of that which is not only without the will but distinctly in opposition to it, or compulsory, involuntary becomes an antonym, not only of voluntary but of spontaneous; as, involuntary servitude. A spontaneous outburst of applause is of necessity an act of volition, but so completely dependent on sympathetic impulse that it would seem frigid to call it voluntary, while to call it involuntary would imply some previous purpose or inclination not to applaud.

    Synonyms:
    automatic, free, impulsive, involuntary, spontaneous, unbidden, voluntary, willing

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms2.5 / 2 votes

  1. instinctive

    Synonyms:
    natural, voluntary, spontaneous, intuitive, impulsive

    Antonyms:
    cultivated, forced, reasoning, rationalistic

Princeton's WordNet0.0 / 0 votes

  1. natural, instinctiveadjective

    unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct

    "a cat's natural aversion to water"; "offering to help was as instinctive as breathing"

    Synonyms:
    innate(p), natural, raw(a), rude(a), born(p), lifelike

    Antonyms:
    induced

Dictionary of English Synonymes0.0 / 0 votes

  1. instinctiveadjective

    Synonyms:
    natural, spontaneous, involuntary

PPDB, the paraphrase database0.0 / 0 votes

  1. List of paraphrases for "instinctive":

    knee-jerk, intuitive

How to pronounce instinctive?

How to say instinctive in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

rankingword
#42free
#759natural
#2785automatic
#3912willing
#5512voluntary
#11181intuitive
#13632spontaneous
#22716involuntary
#40416impulsive
#43828lifelike
#47195instinctive
#140105unbidden

How to use instinctive in a sentence?

  1. Charles Robert Darwin:

    The assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by many persons as an argument for His existence. But this is a rash argument, as we should thus be compelled to believe in the existence of cruel and malignant spirits, only a little more powerful than man for the belief in them is far more general than in a beneficent Diety.

  2. The Omani shed:

    Beauty is an instinctive miracle, which itself never makes its presence, but the reflection of which is evident in a thousand different statements of the inspired minds, and is as innumerable as nature itself.

  3. Lydia Child:

    None speak of the bravery, the might, or the intellect of Jesus; but the devil is always imagined as a being of acute intellect, political cunning, and the fiercest courage. These universal and instinctive tendencies of the human mind reveal much.

  4. Bertrand Russell:

    The main things which seem to me important on their own account, and not merely as means to other things, are knowledge, art, instinctive happiness, and relations of frendship or affection.

  5. Bertrand Russell:

    Our instinctive emotions are those that we have inherited from a much more dangerous world, and contain, therefore, a larger portion of fear than they should.


Translations for instinctive

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"instinctive." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/instinctive>.

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