instinct
Unlearned behavioral urge
Instinct is an inborn tendency to behave in a certain way without learning or conscious thought.
Animals act on instinct when they migrate, build nests, or flee predators.
In humans, instinct often means a natural aptitude or intuitive response: My instinct told me something was wrong, She has good instincts for business.
To do something on instinct is to act without deliberation.
Unproven inner sense
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
inkling · feeling · sense · vibes · presentiment · intimation · notion · awareness
Existing from birth
- inherentExisting as essential part
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- naturalNot artificially produced
- geneticRelating to heredity
intrinsic · unlearned · automatic · biological · congenital · native · reflexive · ancestral
Strong inner drive
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
- reactionResponse to stimulus
- spontaneityActing without forethought
whim · inclination · proclivity · snap-decision · knee-jerk · automaticity · spur · unthinking
Instinct to survive danger
- fight-or-flightAcute threat reaction
- adrenalineEmergency response hormone
- dangerExposure to harm
- fearEmotional response to threat
escape · protection · defense · threat · alertness · caution · vigilance · wariness
Organism that consumes others
- preyAnimal being hunted
- territorialDefensive about owned space
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- huntingPursuing wild game
mating · nesting · migration · herd · pack · flock · dominance · hierarchy
Impetus toward a goal
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- thirstNeed for fluid
- desireIntense wanting
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
longing · pursuit · striving · determination · need · craving · compulsion · libido
Manner of conducting oneself
- imprintingRapid early learning attachment
- habituationDiminished reaction over time
- releaserOne who liberates
- stimulusWhat prompts a reaction
conditioning · Lorenz · naturalist · observation · sociobiology
hunch
Unproven inner sense
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
suspicion · inkling · feeling · sense · vibes · presentiment · intimation · notion · awareness · apprehension
inborn
Existing from birth
- inherentExisting as essential part
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- naturalNot artificially produced
genetic · intrinsic · unlearned · automatic · biological · congenital · native · reflexive · ancestral · hereditary
urge
Strong inner drive
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
- reactionResponse to stimulus
spontaneity · whim · inclination · proclivity · snap-decision · knee-jerk · automaticity · spur · unthinking · involuntary
self-preservation
Instinct to survive danger
- fight-or-flightAcute threat reaction
- adrenalineEmergency response hormone
- dangerExposure to harm
fear · escape · protection · defense · threat · alertness · caution · vigilance · wariness · reflex
predator
Organism that consumes others
- preyAnimal being hunted
- territorialDefensive about owned space
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
hunting · mating · nesting · migration · herd · pack · flock · dominance · hierarchy · alpha
motivation
Impetus toward a goal
yearning · longing · pursuit · striving · determination · need · craving · compulsion · libido · aggression
behavior
Manner of conducting oneself
- imprintingRapid early learning attachment
- habituationDiminished reaction over time
- releaserOne who liberates
stimulus · conditioning · Lorenz · naturalist · observation · sociobiology
- actingacting, act, performing, playacting, actor
- animal behavioranimal behavior, learned behavior, conditioning, social behavior, territorial behavior
- desireswant, wish, desire, wanting, yearning
- dispositionsdisposition, predisposition, inclination, tendency, propensity
- guessesguess, conjecture, supposition, speculation, surmise
- gut feelingsgut feeling, gut reaction, hunch, intuition, sixth sense
instinctlearned behavior
Action acquired through experience
training · education · experience · conditioning · learned response
instinctdeliberation
Careful weighing of choices
reason · calculation · premeditation · forethought · planning
- gut instinctImmediate unreasoned knowing
- animal instinctsInnate behavioral impulses
- killer instinctMerciless competitive determination
- survival instinctInborn drive to live
- maternal instinctInborn drive to nurture
- nesting instinctDrive to prepare home
instincts, instinctive, instinctual, instinctively, instinctiveness