# instinct

Pronunciation: say "IN-stingkt" /ˈɪn.stɪŋkt/

## Noun

1. An inborn, natural impulse or pattern of behavior that arises without being learned.
   - Simple: A natural urge that makes a person or animal act a certain way without being taught.
   - _Salmon return to their birth streams driven by instinct alone._
   - _A mother's instinct told her something was wrong with the baby._
2. A reaction or judgment that arises intuitively, without being based on conscious, rational thought.
   - Simple: A quick feeling about what to do that comes without stopping to think it through.
   - _The veteran detective followed instinct rather than the available evidence._
   - _Her first instinct was to apologize, though she had done nothing wrong._

## Adjective

3. Filled with, imbued with, or charged with some quality, feeling, or animating force. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Filled with or full of something, such as a strong feeling or quality.
   - _The poem was instinct with a quiet, restrained grief._
   - _Every line of the sculpture seemed instinct with movement._

## Origin

From Latin īnstīnctus, the past participle of īnstinguō ("to incite, instigate"), formed from in ("in, on") plus stinguō ("to prick").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/instinct (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).