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collective behavior

American  

noun

Sociology.

  1. the spontaneous, unstructured, and temporary behavior of a group of people in response to the same event, situation, etc.

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.

Scientists have long suggested that avalanches could explain the collective behavior of countless small flares on the Sun and other stars.

From Science Daily • Jan. 21, 2026

"The framework for analyzing this collective behavior resides in the fundamental pheromone concentration gradient, then working from there," Karamched said.

From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2024

The consequences of their collective behavior were world-changing.

From Salon • Aug. 30, 2024

“When it comes to our collective behavior, it seems like we have lost any sense of public conversation about the moral good,” she said.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 5, 2024

It is in our collective behavior that we are most mysterious.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.