A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).
Used in a Sentence
knee-jerk
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for knee-jerk.
Editorial note
Elsewhere on HN people have been criticized for what's been called a knee-jerk reaction to socialist ideas.
Examples15
Definitions2
Parts of speech2
Quick take
A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of knee-jerk gathered in one view.
Unthinking, not carefully considered, (nearly) automatic, spontaneous, easily predictable.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for knee-jerk.
noun
A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).
adjective
Unthinking, not carefully considered, (nearly) automatic, spontaneous, easily predictable.
Example sentences
Elsewhere on HN people have been criticized for what's been called a knee-jerk reaction to socialist ideas.
Your knee-jerk anti-establishment opinion about how the world works, based on your limited experience is not a good bellwether.
Certain answers may be similar to answers given to similar questions in the past, but they should never be knee-jerk.
More specifically, your perspectives that cause these, and your management of them when they are knee-jerk.
It wouldn't surprise me if they doctored the video as a knee-jerk reaction.
Ahh, I should have watched the video before I had the knee-jerk reaction to be so charitable.
It has little to do with egos and everything to do with bad planning and a panicked knee-jerk response to the crisis at hand.
Among a well-educated and logical population, knee-jerk reactions are always improper.
Not to mention that I can't imagine how illegalizing trading and other knee-jerk reactions could possibly instill confidence in the market.
I know the knee-jerk reaction is to assume foul play What?
I know the knee-jerk reaction is to assume foul play, but I knew him a little bit and he was as healthy as an ox.
This _may_ have been the default, knee-jerk guidance for the Windows team, or part of it, but it was certainly not true for the whole of Microsoft, even back in 2010.
Quote examples
I think you, and those below, have misunderstood this quote, in the usual knee-jerk liberal ("fuck off") fascist manner.
By informing them before it hits the general news, one enables the "swat teams and more" knee-jerk response that the police love (if I had cool toys I'd want to play with them too) but without any media scrutiny.
They fell into the old trap -- "People fear what they do not understand" -- and their knee-jerk reaction was to treat me like a drug addict, subjecting me to verbal abuse, constant monitoring, and the occasional "this-time-we're-serious" intervention.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use knee-jerk in a sentence?
Elsewhere on HN people have been criticized for what's been called a knee-jerk reaction to socialist ideas.
What does knee-jerk mean?
A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).
What part of speech is knee-jerk?
knee-jerk is commonly used as noun, adjective.