Definitions for: Instinctive


[adj] unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct; "a cat's natural aversion to water"; "offering to help was as instinctive as breathing"



Webster (1913) Definition: In*stinc"tive, a. [Cf. F. instinctif.]
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.'' --Milton. ``Instinctive dread.''
--Cowper.

With taste instinctive give Each grace appropriate.
--Mason.

Have we had instinctive intimations of the death of
some absent friends? --Bp. Hall.

Note: The terms instinctive belief, instinctive judgment,
instinctive cognition, are expressions not ill adapted
to characterize 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. --Sir H. Hamilton.

Syn: Natural; voluntary; spontaneous; original; innate;
inherent; automatic.

Synonyms: natural, self-generated, spontaneous

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