instincts
Inborn behavioral drives
Instincts are inborn patterns of behavior, impulses that arise without learning or conscious thought.
Animals act on instinct when they migrate, nest, or flee predators.
In humans, instinct often means intuitive knowledge or gut feeling: Trust your instincts.
Someone with good instincts makes sound judgments without deliberation.
A survival instinct or maternal instinct suggests behavior rooted in biology rather than reason.
Acute threat reaction
- self-preservationInstinct to survive danger
- dangerExposure to harm
- threatIndication of potential harm
- escapeFlight from captivity
fear · defense · protection · reflexes · adaptation · vigilance · alertness · wariness
Existing from birth
- inherentExisting as essential part
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- geneticRelating to heredity
- naturalNot artificially produced
unlearned · intrinsic · native · congenital · hereditary · inherited · ingrained · constitutional
Instinctive sense about something
- hunchUnproven inner sense
- sixth senseExtrasensory perception ability
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
foreboding · presentiment · inkling · suspicion · feeling · impression · sense · perception
Strong inner drive
- driveOperate a vehicle
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
- reactionResponse to stimulus
spontaneity · involuntary · visceral · unthinking · knee-jerk · snap decision · impulsive · spur-of-the-moment
Exploiting the vulnerable
- territorialDefensive about owned space
- aggressionHostile or attacking behavior
- matingReproductive pairing behavior
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
hierarchy · pack · hunting · foraging · alpha · fight · flight · fear response
fight-or-flight
Acute threat reaction
- self-preservationInstinct to survive danger
- dangerExposure to harm
- threatIndication of potential harm
escape · fear · defense · protection · reflexes · adaptation · vigilance · alertness · wariness · caution
inborn
Existing from birth
- inherentExisting as essential part
- hardwiredPermanently connected by wires
- geneticRelating to heredity
natural · unlearned · intrinsic · native · congenital · hereditary · inherited · ingrained · constitutional · fundamental
gut feeling
Instinctive sense about something
- hunchUnproven inner sense
- sixth senseExtrasensory perception ability
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
intuition · foreboding · presentiment · inkling · suspicion · feeling · impression · sense · perception · vibes
urge
Strong inner drive
- driveOperate a vehicle
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
reaction · spontaneity · involuntary · visceral · unthinking · knee-jerk · snap decision · impulsive · spur-of-the-moment · unconscious
predatory
Exploiting the vulnerable
- territorialDefensive about owned space
- aggressionHostile or attacking behavior
- matingReproductive pairing behavior
dominance · hierarchy · pack · hunting · foraging · alpha · fight · flight · fear response · herd
- actingacting, act, performing, playacting, actor
- animal behavioranimal behavior, learned behavior, conditioning, social behavior, territorial behavior
- street smartsstreet smarts, savvy, resourceful, resourcefulness, cunning
- unconscious drivesrepressed desires, hidden desires, libido, aggression, fear response
- human naturehuman nature, emotions, human condition, desires, personhood
- inner lifeidentity, feelings, memory, thoughts, self-discovery
instinctslearned behavior
Action acquired through experience
training · education · conditioning · experience · practice
instinctsreason
Basis or justification
reasoning · deliberation · rational thought · logic · analysis
instinctsculture
Collective social practices
convention · custom · tradition · social norms · etiquette
- 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
instinct, instinctive, instinctual, instinctively, instinctiveness