How to Use instinctive in a Sentence

instinctive

adjective
Definition of instinctivenext
Synonyms for instinctivenext
  • Cats have an instinctive desire to hunt.
  • Das’s approach to filmmaking remains deeply personal and instinctive.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024
  • With each day, the boy’s instinctive interest in natural history transcended his childish thirst for adventure.
    — Peter Zablocki, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Oct. 2024
  • Maybe the surest and most instinctive tackler on the team.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 15 Mar. 2023
  • New Browns S John Johnson is viewed as one of the smartest, instinctive safeties in the league.
    — Terry Pluto, cleveland, 15 Mar. 2021
  • Thank God, Stranger Things has trained me to shut my mouth more than is instinctive for me.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Both are instinctive as hell and always around the ball.
    — Matt Zenitz | Mzenitz@al.com, al, 29 Dec. 2020
  • You were born and raised in L.A., and your photographs give off this instinctive love and pride for the city.
    — Andrea Alonso, Los Angeles Magazine, 27 Mar. 2018
  • For Trump, such concerns take a back seat to his instinctive need to punch back.
    — Ben Shapiro, National Review, 24 Oct. 2017
  • Samuel is instinctive and savvy enough to stay on top of receivers and make plays on any pass thrown his way.
    — Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY, 29 Apr. 2021
  • It’s just instinctive; she was born with a gift for X-ray vision that way.
    — Adam Rathe, Town & Country, 23 Aug. 2021
  • For some of the volunteers, the move to act is almost instinctive.
    — Rebecca Kanthor / Shanghai, Time, 24 Feb. 2020
  • The instinctive Moon is zipping through your 9th House of Learning, giving you a bird's eye view of the world.
    — Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 1 Mar. 2022
  • For many of us, the rejection of G.M.O.s is instinctive.
    — New York Times, 20 July 2021
  • That and the sight of shoulders slumping on the mound and that instinctive pause in the batter's box as the hitter admired his work.
    — Greg Cote, miamiherald, 9 July 2017
  • The instinctive human need to tell stories lives on, as does the desire to hear or see those tales and pass them along.
    — Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Ji-Man Choi playing in at first base, but Betts made the instinctive play and took off for home, beating the throw with a head-first slide.
    — Schuyler Dixon, orlandosentinel.com, 28 Oct. 2020
  • As in, maybe there’s a risk in overthinking it and taking some of the instinctive magic out of it?
    — Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 14 Feb. 2018
  • And coughing can be an instinctive response to try to moisten the mouth.
    — Jessica Migala, Women's Health, 15 Apr. 2023
  • An instinctive playmaker with good ball skills is what the Ravens need in the deep secondary.
    — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 29 Apr. 2021
  • Collins is instinctive in coverage and takes the ball away at a high level.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 30 Apr. 2021
  • My instinctive response to a problem, to a crisis, is to take a beat and then start looking for ways to fix it.
    — SI.com, 28 Aug. 2019
  • And Trump’s sharp instinctive punch-backs do not calm tensions.
    — SFChronicle.com, 5 July 2018
  • With the Wizards, he was known as The Genius for his attention to detail and his instinctive feel for the game.
    — New York Times, 1 Nov. 2021
  • Our guys are instinctive kind of players, so I’m not surprised by it.
    — Edward Lee, baltimoresun.com, 18 Sep. 2017
  • Most of them have an instinctive fear of making less-than-perfect sounds.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Oct. 2019
  • The penguins, on the other hand, just keep doing their instinctive thing.
    — Janice Wald Henderson, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Feb. 2023
  • But Davis boasts a balanced skill set and has proven to be a highly instinctive runner.
    — Michael Gehlken, Dallas News, 10 Aug. 2023
  • The idea of chip sovereignty has an instinctive appeal.
    — Rakesh Kumar, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2022
  • My ultimate goal is to be more instinctive with my all-around game.
    — Dallas News, 9 Feb. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'instinctive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: