instinctive
[in-stingk-tiv]
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Also in·stinc·tu·al [in-stingk-choo-uh l] /ɪnˈstɪŋk tʃu əl/.
Origin of instinctive
Synonyms
See more synonyms for instinctive on Thesaurus.com2. spontaneous, intuitive, unpremeditated.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for instinctual
Contemporary Examples
To keep a commonplace is instinctual to intellectual cultivation.
Social Media: Nothing New? Commonplace Books As Predecessor to PinterestKelsey McKinney
August 16, 2012
Rather, there is a constant back-and-forth between the conscious and the unconscious, between the rational and the instinctual.
This was primal and instinctual and it gripped me like an invisible claw.
Style, she believes, is instinctual, however intellectual her insights might seem.
Still staring into her daughter's eyes, she reaches an instant, instinctual decision.
Historical Examples
I have the calling card of reason plus an instinctual nature.
The Land of Look BehindPaul Cameron Brown
It was once, when men were primitively close to Nature, instinctual knowledge.
Incredible AdventuresAlgernon Blackwood
Phildee's probe swept past the laboring mind directly into her telepathic, instinctual centers.
Riya's FoundlingAlgirdas Jonas Budrys
instinctive
instinctual
- of, relating to, or resulting from instinct
- conditioned so as to appear innatean instinctive movement in driving
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for instinctual
instinctive
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper