as in automatic
done instantly and without conscious thought or decision
the birds' instinctual response is to fly away when startled
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instinctual
Adjective
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The conferences that are awarded automatic bids are: Atlantic Hockey America (AHA), Big Ten, Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC), Hockey East, and National Collegiate Hockey Conference.—
Giovanni Malloy,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025 -
Kemper said part of the uptick was related to other enforcement operations — specifically people picked up for other crimes then attacking the arresting officers, an automatic felony.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Driving through deep water can also negatively affect a vehicle's mechanical and electrical systems.—
STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Apr. 2025
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Key Polish exports to the U.S. include machinery and mechanical equipment, notably turbojet and turboprop engines.—
Lidia Kurasinska,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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This show should finally set the record straight: here is an American visionary whose obsessive paintings are at once stylized and crudely instinctive, achieving a kind of cryptic simplicity that might be called folk surrealism.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
ARTnews.com,
26 Mar. 2025
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Another instinctive reaction to tariff announcements is shifting sourcing and manufacturing back to the United States.—
Jim DeLoach,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Engineered to deliver booming bass at all volume levels, the speaker sports dual 58mm tweeters, a 165mm bass driver, a bass reflex tube and BlueAnt’s signature psycho-acoustic bass.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
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Common triggers include dehydration from illness, vasovagal syncope—a reflex response to nausea or pain—abnormal heart rhythms, and heart valve conditions such as aortic stenosis.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
6 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Few inspire spontaneous ovations in public places, like the one U.S. Rep. John Larson received last month at Bradley airport.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
5 Apr. 2025
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The Women’s March was highly organized and concentrated, while the protests in June 2020 were largely spontaneous and spread out.—
Gal Beckerman,
The Atlantic,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In the footage, a large coastal carpet python rests on a mechanic shop's floor.—
Kelli Bender,
People.com,
12 Mar. 2025
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His current mechanic shop is basically a retirement hobby, something to pass the time.—
Zach Helfand,
The New Yorker,
10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Months later, the participant retained his ability to control the robotic arm with minimal recalibration, highlighting the long-term reliability of this BCI system.—
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report,
FOXNews.com,
30 Mar. 2025
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But in agriculture, this computing power and breakthrough hardware is turned toward inspiring robotic designs.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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At least one state public health official is worried that the sudden loss in funding will hurt their state’s grasp of the virus.—
Ross O'Keefe,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
26 Mar. 2025
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Brett Gardner and his wife Jessica announced on Sunday that their son Miller had died after a sudden illness while on vacation.—
Ana Melgar Zuniga and Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Instinctual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instinctual. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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