instinct

How to use instinct in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for instinct.

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Editorial note

If I said, "Here, have a square," is your first instinct really to think oh!

Examples11

Definitions2

Parts of speech2

Quick take

inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli; "the spawning instinct in salmon"; "altruistic instincts in social animals"

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of instinct gathered in one view.

noun

inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli; "the spawning instinct in salmon"; "altruistic instincts in social animals"

adjective

(followed by `with')deeply filled or permeated; "imbued with the spirit of the Reformation"; "words instinct with love"; "it is replete with misery"

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for instinct.

noun

inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli; "the spawning instinct in salmon"; "altruistic instincts in social animals"

adjective

(followed by `with')deeply filled or permeated; "imbued with the spirit of the Reformation"; "words instinct with love"; "it is replete with misery"

Example sentences

If I said, "Here, have a square," is your first instinct really to think oh!

My gut instinct was that they weren't habitual thieves.

It showed that he had the intuitive instinct that there had to be a better way.

I think it is a survival instinct that has atrophied to dysfunction.

[1] "My instinct was to make this distinction go away, to show them I know our neighborhood is more complicated than that.

My initial instinct was to say that they should prorate the cost, something like $5/month but I quickly realized why this wouldn't work.

I'd be doubly reluctant to call them arrogant whilst panning their design based on nothing but instinct and supposition.

It's fucking absurd, because money has never been capable of solving those kinds of problems - practice and gut instinct are what create good stories.

" He goes on to say that he "enjoy[s] a reputation of being someone of intense understanding and observation with a keen strategic instinct.

Java is designed around the principle of "everything should be a class" which makes everyone's first instinct to have lots of mutable instances with lots of mutable member variables.

A person who's addictively obsessed with something is almost feral, operating on instinct -- except with human level brain power to alter their environment to maintain the obsession.