second-nature
Effortlessly automatic now
Second-nature describes something so thoroughly learned that it feels instinctive rather than acquired.
Skills become second nature through repetition until they require no conscious thought: After years of driving, shifting gears is second nature.
The term acknowledges that the behavior isn't truly innate—it's a learned habit that now mimics instinct.
Operating without intervention
- instinctiveArising without conscious thought
- effortlessRequiring no strain
- intuitiveKnown without reasoning
- ingrainedFirmly established by habit
habitual · reflexive · practiced · fluent · skilled · proficient · expertise · mastered
Instinctive immediate understanding
- instinctInnate behavioral tendency
- feelPerceive by touch
- reflexInvoluntary stimulus response
- gutDigestive tract, or instinct
spontaneous · bodily · kinesthetic · sensory · physical · somatic · proprioception · coordination
Regular sequence of actions
- repetitionAct of redoing
- familiarityKnowledge through experience
- conditioningLearned behavioral adaptation
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
drilling · rehearsal · reinforcement · learning · adaptation · acclimatization · normalization · adjustment
automatic
Operating without intervention
- instinctiveArising without conscious thought
- effortlessRequiring no strain
- intuitiveKnown without reasoning
ingrained · habitual · reflexive · practiced · fluent · skilled · proficient · expertise · mastered · internalized
intuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
gut · spontaneous · bodily · kinesthetic · sensory · physical · somatic · proprioception · coordination · dexterity
routine
Regular sequence of actions
- repetitionAct of redoing
- familiarityKnowledge through experience
- conditioningLearned behavioral adaptation
practice · drilling · rehearsal · reinforcement · learning · adaptation · acclimatization · normalization · adjustment · immersion
- Easy Thingseasy, simple, easy peasy, easy-peasy, easy as pie
- skilled traitsexpert, skilled, adept, proficient, masterful
second-naturedeliberate
Consciously chosen, not accidental
conscious · effortful · labored · intentional · calculated
second, nature, secondly, seconds, seconded, seconding, natural, naturally, unnatural