instinctive
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or of the nature of instinct.
-
prompted by or resulting from or as if from instinct; natural; unlearned.
an instinctive will to survive.
- Synonyms:
- unpremeditated, intuitive, spontaneous
adjective
-
of, relating to, or resulting from instinct
-
conditioned so as to appear innate
an instinctive movement in driving
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of instinctive
First recorded in 1640–50; instinct 1 + -ive
Explanation
The adjective instinctive describes something you do without thinking about it. If you have an instinctive desire to help animals, you might automatically stop your car to pick up every stray dog you see. Something that is instinctive occurs naturally, the way babies know how to cry and suck as soon as they're born. Adults also have instinctive reflexes — like yawning, or the reflex that makes you kick your leg when the doctor hits your knee with a rubber mallet. Sometimes your instinctive reflexes can save your life — like when the "fight or flight" instinct warns you that danger is present.
Vocabulary lists containing instinctive
List 1
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 26–31
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"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
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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.
Our instinctive response to every bubble, at least for the last 25 years, has been austerity.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
The instinctive response is elegiac: lament the shuttered campus, mourn the futures it might have made, hope for rescue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Even critics conceded that Banerjee possessed an instinctive feel for the emotional grammar of her electorate.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
“People make that decision not from the rational brain, but from the emotional, instinctive brain,” said Deborah Price, a money coach in Petaluma, Calif.
From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026
His teacher made him afraid, on an instinctive level, of trying to seek out new information.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
