instinct
instinct Lexical Profile
instinct Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An innate, fixed pattern of behavior in animals or humans in response to certain stimuli, rather than one learned through experience.
"Sea turtles rely on natural instinct to navigate toward the ocean immediately after hatching."
An intuitive feeling, natural aptitude, or spontaneous inclination to act or judge in a particular way without conscious reasoning.
"Her editorial instinct told her that the manuscript would become a bestseller."
• adjective
Imbued, charged, or filled with an animating quality, force, or emotion (used predicatively and followed by 'with').
"The artist's brushstrokes were instinct with vitality and dramatic movement."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adjective ('instinct with'), the word is strictly used predicatively in formal or literary contexts to mean 'imbued or filled with' and is stressed on the second syllable (/ɪnˈstɪŋkt/), unlike the common noun (/ˈɪnstɪŋkt/).
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Latin instinctus ('instigation, impulse'), a noun of action from the past participle of instinguere ('to incite, impel'), derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)teyg- ('to stick, prick').