unconditioned

American  

[uhn-kuhn-dish-uhnd] / ˌʌn kənˈdɪʃ ənd /

adjective

1. not subject to conditions; absolute.

2. Psychology. not proceeding from or dependent on a conditioning of the individual; natural; innate.

   unconditioned behavior.

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unconditioned British  

/ ˌʌnkənˈdɪʃənd /

adjective

1. psychol characterizing an innate reflex and the stimulus and response that form parts of it Compare conditioned

2. metaphysics unrestricted by conditions; infinite; absolute

3. without limitations; unconditional

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Other Word Forms

• unconditionedness noun

Etymology

Origin of unconditioned

First recorded in 1625–35; un- ¹ + conditioned

Explanation

An unconditioned behavior is not brought about by learning. Sneezing is an unconditioned behavior. Unconditioned also means without conditions, as in unconditioned love, which is love that will always be, even if your mate starts wearing socks with sandals. There are two sense of unconditioned, but they both involve things that happen regardless of outside events. An unconditioned behavior is innate — babies aren't taught (or conditioned) to cry, so that behavior is unconditioned. Other uses of unconditioned mean that something has no conditions and could last forever, like unconditioned peace, or even an unconditioned agreement that will be honored in any circumstances. No conditions can stop it.

Example Sentences

He will be unconditioned in what he chooses to interpret as Iranian surrender.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

After the conditioning period was finished, the dog would respond by salivating when the bell was rung, even when the unconditioned stimulus, the food, was absent.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

And they reply to injustice and repression not by resistance or retaliation, but with an utterly new, unconditioned response that leaves the reader lightheaded, transcending even that which we value as “freedom.”

From New York Times • Feb. 23, 2018

“The voice is silence … it is a voice that is unconditioned, like a horse standing still.”

From The Guardian • Dec. 25, 2017

Everything that forces a man to be no longer unconditioned in his love, cuts at the root of his strength: he must wither, and be dishonoured.

From Thoughts Out of Season (Part II) by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm