spontaneous
coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation; natural and unconstrained; unplanned: a spontaneous burst of applause.
(of a person) given to acting upon sudden impulses.
(of natural phenomena) arising from internal forces or causes; independent of external agencies; self-acting.
growing naturally or without cultivation, as plants and fruits; indigenous.
produced by natural process.
Origin of spontaneous
1synonym study For spontaneous
Other words for spontaneous
Opposites for spontaneous
Other words from spontaneous
- spon·ta·ne·ous·ly, adverb
- spon·ta·ne·ous·ness, noun
- non·spon·ta·ne·ous, adjective
- non·spon·ta·ne·ous·ness, noun
- sem·i·spon·ta·ne·ous, adjective
- sem·i·spon·ta·ne·ous·ness, noun
- sub·spon·ta·ne·ous, adjective
- sub·spon·ta·ne·ous·ness, noun
- un·spon·ta·ne·ous, adjective
- un·spon·ta·ne·ous·ness, noun
Words Nearby spontaneous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use spontaneous in a sentence
Because most people don’t make totally spontaneous decisions about where to go or eat — some amount of forethought or planning is typically involved — it will be interesting to see how this feature gets used and evolves.
Google Search gets deeper into the ‘real-world’ with Busyness, Duplex and AR in Maps | Greg Sterling | October 16, 2020 | Search Engine LandDeactivation of lateral PFC regions is associated with free-floating, defocused attention, allowing spontaneous associations between ideas to arise, and sudden realizations or insights to occur.
The Neurology of Flow States - Issue 91: The Amazing Brain | Heather Berlin | October 14, 2020 | NautilusNot surprisingly, the frontal regions of the brain that have been shown to be involved in time perception and impulse control are also involved in spontaneous creativity.
The Neurology of Flow States - Issue 91: The Amazing Brain | Heather Berlin | October 14, 2020 | NautilusIn nature, any spontaneous flow between two reservoirs can be harvested to produce power.
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Environmentalism - Issue 90: Something Green | Anastasia Bendebury & Michael Shilo DeLay | October 7, 2020 | NautilusOther times, culture emerges by accident, the product of a million spontaneous actions that over time become habits—for better or worse.
Walmart CEO: To tackle today’s challenges, ‘listen with open ears and an open heart’ | matthewheimer | October 6, 2020 | Fortune
The premise of the sketch was that sex was too spontaneous to be regulated, and the quiz show played that idea to the hilt.
How Antioch College Got Rape Right 20 Years Ago | Nicolaus Mills | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTrying to be ordinary, plain-spoken, and spontaneous made it worse.
Odds against chance in a review of spontaneous telepathy studies have been calculated, Radin says, at “22 billion to 1.”
Knocking on Heaven's Door: True Stories of Unexplained, Uncanny Experiences at the Hour of Death | Patricia Pearson | August 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIsraelis have also waged a psy-war on Hamas, albeit more informal and spontaneous.
Israel, Hamas, WhatsApp and Hacked Phones in the Gaza Psy-War | Itay Hod | July 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNew York in the 1920s was iridescent, and its boom was spontaneous.
Perhaps his almost perfectly spontaneous love of tiny flowers is already a considerable advance on his so-called prototype.
Children's Ways | James SullyYet I think if we observe closely we shall detect traces of a spontaneous impulse towards self-adornment.
Children's Ways | James Sullyspontaneous gaiety was gone out of his cousin, whose attempts to be his normal self became forced and unsuccessful.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodIn a strict sense, of course, no child's drawing is absolutely spontaneous and independent of external stimulus and guidance.
Children's Ways | James SullyAs far as possible I have sought spontaneous drawings of quite young children, viz., from between two and three to about six.
Children's Ways | James Sully
British Dictionary definitions for spontaneous
/ (spɒnˈteɪnɪəs) /
occurring, produced, or performed through natural processes without external influence: spontaneous movement
arising from an unforced personal impulse; voluntary; unpremeditated: a spontaneous comment
(of plants) growing naturally; indigenous
Origin of spontaneous
1Derived forms of spontaneous
- spontaneously, adverb
- spontaneousness, noun
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
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