instinct
/ˈɪn.stɪŋkt/
instinct noun: a natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
Noun
instinct (countable and uncountable, plural instincts)
- A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
- Many animals fear fire by instinct.
- By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust / Ensuing dangers.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought.
- an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct
- Debbie's instinct was to distrust John.
Adjective
instinct (comparative more instinct, superlative most instinct)
- Imbued, charged (with something).
- The chariot of paternal deity […] / Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed / By four cherubic shapes.1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- a noble performance, instinct with sound principle1838, Henry Brougham, Historical Sketches of Statesmen Who Flourished in the Time of George III
instinct meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
instinct in Hindi
- natural or inherent impulse or behaviour
- फ़ितरत fitrat, वृत्ति vŕtti, प्रवृत्ति pravŕtti, मूल प्रवृत्ति mūl pravŕtti, सहज वृत्ति sahaj vŕtti, सहज प्रवृत्ति sahaj pravŕtti
instinct in Tamil
- உள்ளுணர்வு, உறையறிவு, உள்ளறிவு, பிறப்பறிவு, இயல்பறிவு, இயல்புணர்வு
instinct in Urdu
- natural or inherent impulse or behaviour
- فِطْرَت fitrat
instinct in Bengali
- instinct
- প্রবৃত্তি prôbritti
More languagesFewer languages
- instinct in Telugu
- సహజజ్ఞానము sahajajñānamu
- instinct in Malayalam
- ജന്മവാസന janmavāsana, സഹജാവബോധം sahajāvabōdhaṁ
- instinct in Kannada
- ಸಹಜ ಪ್ರವೃತ್ತಿ, ಪ್ರಕೃತಿ, ಸ್ವಭಾವ, ಹುಟ್ಟುಗುಣ
- instinct in Punjabi
- ਪ੍ਰਵਿਰਤੀ
- instinct in Gujarati
- સહજવૃત્તિ
- instinct in Odia
- ପ୍ରବୃତ୍ତି
- instinct in Pashto
- غريزه ǧariza
- instinct in Arabic
- غَرِيزَة ḡarīza, سَلِيقَة salīqa, فِطْرَة fiṭra
- instinct in Malay
- naluri, garizah, insting
- instinct in Indonesian
- naluri, insting
- instinct in Thai
- สัญชาตญาณ sǎn-châat-dtà-yaan
- instinct in Vietnamese
- bản năng
Examples of instinct in a sentence
- In spite of these qualifications, the broad distinction between instinct and habit is undeniable.1921, Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind:
- It was a most Bedlamite catalogue of horrors, which, if true, made the wholesome moors a place instinct with tragedy.1899, John Buchan, No Man's Land:
Forms of instinct
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | instincts |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more instinct |
| superlative | most instinct |
Origin of instinct
From Latin īnstīnctus, past participle of īnstinguō (“to incite, to instigate”), from in (“in, on”) + stinguō (“to prick”).
Words formed from instinct
Words that rhyme with instinct
Questions about instinct
- What does instinct mean?
- Instinct means a natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
- What is instinct in Hindi?
- Instinct in Hindi is फ़ितरत (fitrat), वृत्ति (vŕtti), प्रवृत्ति (pravŕtti). See Instinct meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use instinct in a sentence?
- In spite of these qualifications, the broad distinction between instinct and habit is undeniable.
- What part of speech is instinct?
- Instinct can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce instinct?
- Instinct is pronounced /ˈɪn.stɪŋkt/.
- What is the plural of instinct?
- The plural of instinct is instincts.
Words near instinct in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: instinct (page history and authors); instinct (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); প্রবৃত্তি (Bengali) (page history and authors); సహజజ్ఞానము (Telugu) (page history and authors); instinct (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); instinct (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); instinct (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); instinct (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-instinct.ogg.
Cite this entry: “instinct.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/instinct. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.