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Definition of Instinctive
1. Adjective. Unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct. "Offering to help was as instinctive as breathing"
Definition of Instinctive
1. a. Of or pertaining to instinct; derived from, or prompted by, instinct; of the nature of instinct; determined by natural impulse or propensity; acting or produced without reasoning, deliberation, instruction, or experience; spontaneous.
Definition of Instinctive
1. Adjective. related to or prompted by instinct ¹
2. Adjective. driven by impulse, spontaneous and without thinking. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Instinctive
1. [adj]
Medical Definition of Instinctive
1. Of or pertaining to instinct; derived from, or prompted by, instinct; of the nature of instinct; determined by natural impulse or propensity; acting or produced without reasoning, deliberation, instruction, or experience; spontaneous. "Instinctive motion." . "Instinctive dread." "With taste instinctive give Each grace appropriate." (Mason) "Have we had instinctive intimations of the death of some absent friends?" (Bp. Hall) The terms instinctive belief, instinctive judgment, instinctive cognition, are expressions not ill adapted to characterise a belief, judgment, or cognition, which, as the result of no anterior consciousness, is, like the products of animal instinct, the intelligent effect of (as far as we are concerned) an unknown cause. Synonym: Natural, voluntary, spontaneous, original, innate, inherent, automatic. Origin: Cf. F. Instinctif. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Instinctive
Literary usage of Instinctive
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology by John Broadus Watson (1914)
"instinctive activity of birds: the noddy tern.—instinctive activity of
reptiles.—instinctive activity of fish.—Special forms of instinctive activity in fish ..."
2. The Mind of the Child: Observations Concerning the Mental Development of the by William T. Preyer (1898)
"instinctive MOVEMENTS. THE instinctive movements of human beings are not numerous,
... So much the more attentively must the instinctive movements of the ..."
3. The Mind of the Child: Observations Concerning the Mental Development of the by William T. Preyer (1895)
"instinctive MOVEMENTS. THE instinctive movements of human beings are not numerous,
... So much the more attentively must the instinctive movements ..."
4. Animal Behaviour by Conwy Lloyd Morgan (1900)
"Whence we may infer that the co-operation of natural selection is an essential
factor in the evolution of instinctive behaviour. ..."
5. The Anthropological Review by Anthropological Society of London (1863)
"instinctive Actions. Dr. WM. MURRAY (Da) endeavoured to demonstrate the part
which each of the sources of nervous power plays in generating those effects, ..."
6. Fundamentals of Child Study: A Discussion of Instincts and Other Factors in by Edwin Asbury Kirkpatrick (1917)
"The more instinctive form of the rhythmic tendency is shown in the impulse to
... Since most instinctive actions are at least occasionally accompanied by ..."
7. Fundamentals of Child Study: A Discussion of Instincts and Other Factors in by Edwin Asbury Kirkpatrick (1903)
"RELATION OF instinctive ACTIONS TO FEELINGS In general, an instinct, as Professor
James says, is a tendency to act; and an emotion, a tendency to feel. ..."
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