How to use instinctively in a sentence
34 example sentences · adverb
Instinctively means innately; by instinct; without being taught. Example: “Fish instinctively know how to swim; most humans don't.”
Examples of instinctively by meaning
adverbInnately; by instinct; without being taught.
- Fish instinctively know how to swim; most humans don't.
- 'I am, perhaps, overgreedy, but I sense a good cook instinctively.'1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 270
- While Conservative and Labour MPs instinctively had deep political differences, they were united in the cold view that at the end of the 1950s, Britain's railways were friendless and almost finished.2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50
More sentences with instinctively
- She has a way with animals, and they seem instinctively to trust her.From the entry have a way with
- All small running backs instinctively run to daylight.From the entry daylight
- Saw this poster in the wild today and instinctively laughed out loud because like.2023 August 31, yamada-ryo, Tumblr. From the entry sos
- I was used to it, knew instinctively what it was worth.2020, Christopher Priest, The Evidence, Gollancz, page 38. From the entry simoleon
- Breast your cards, Nell.” I pressed my cards against my chest instinctively.2018, Penny Flanagan, Surviving Hal, →ISBN. From the entry breast one's cards
- You can use curiosity even if you don't think of yourself as instinctively curious.2015, Brian Grazer, Charles Fishman, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 58. From the entry curious
- Instinctively, he lifted the chair a fraction, and gave it a little scoot away from her.2013, Liz Carlyle, Three Little Secrets. From the entry scoot
- She seems almost incapable of abstraction or fraudulence; she instinctively grabs for the reachably real.2012 April 30, James Wood, “Invitation To a Beheading”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived…. From the entry reachably
- Of course there was more to swazzling than what I could do instinctively.2005, Bill Drummond, Mark Manning, The Wild Highway, page 384. From the entry swazzle
- I felt instinctively that the subject brought up by Victor was one she would not have chosen.1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree. From the entry prattle
- Ancestry, he thought gloatingly - but instinctively he kept this knowledge jealously.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia…. From the entry gloatingly
- For most people, this sacrifice is made easily and instinctively.2025 June 19, Rami Kaminski, ““Otroverts” and why nonconformists often see what others can’t”, in Big Think. From the entry nor
- Instinctively they turn basic assignments into quagmires and reject simple ideas until they’re buried in layers of abstraction.2011, Scott Berkun, Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, BookBaby, pt. 26. From the entry complexifier
- If someone eye-locks you in a Gaze Glaze, don't look at your shoes, which you will instinctively want to do.2008, Marcelle DiFalco, Jocelyn Greenky Herz, The Big Sister's Guide to the World of Work. From the entry eye-lock
- Any time a car backfired or a police siren howled, they would dive under desks or tables instinctively.1991 February 4, Ayofemi Folayan, “No Sounds Of Silence”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 28, page 7. From the entry backfire
- They seem instinctively to prefer their kith-folk of Russian Karelia.1940, Eugenics Pamphlets, Issues 12-59, digital edition, Eugenics Society of Northern California, published 2008, page 46. From the entry kithfolk
- Those whose nature it is to be rational will instinctively ask why and wherefore, and wrestle with themselves for an answer.1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “First Steps in Education”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, pages…. From the entry Tom, Dick and Harry
- Instinctively they moved toward community canning, community baking, community kitchening on the grand scale to release energy for other war exigencies.1920, Suffragist - Volumes 8-9, page 239. From the entry kitchen
- And instinctively he crisped his hands that were buried in his pockets, and ran over to himself his opening words.1915, John Galsworthy, chapter 27, in The Freelands,, London: Heinemann, page 252. From the entry crisp
- In a visually comical but spiritually inspiring act of animal solidarity, they instinctively go for the obvious wombo-combo: The Bison charges Mr.2021, Juno Martin, “OPINION: Which of IU’s historical mascots would win in a fight for the soul of Hoosier pride?”, in Indiana Daily Student. From the entry wombo combo
- He could jump right in as a Webelo.” Even before Art said it, everyone who'd ever seen Scot instinctively knew he was a Webelo.2010 05, Michael Downing, Breakfast with Scot, ReadHowYouWant.com, →ISBN, page 210. From the entry Webelo
- Britannica, somewhat representative of old media in general, instinctively regards Wikipedia as a threat, whereas Wikipedians are not the least bit tempted to reciprocate.2006 April 22, The Economist. From the entry Wikipedian
- God, you’re disgusting.” “I know you are, but what am I?” I spit back as instinctively as I had when we were nine.2005 June 6, Emma Forrest, “Tingle”, in Cherries in the Snow, London: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 88. From the entry I know you are but what am I
- The beginner will instinctively try to stick his toe straight in in a foot hold, which is very tiring on the calf muscles.1995, Turlough Johnston, Madeleine Halldén, Rock Climbing Basics, →ISBN, page 86. From the entry hold
- The patient's shame about his condition would be consistent with the psychoanalytic viewpoint that the homosexual really wants, instinctively, to be exclusively heterosexual.1979 August 11, Lawrence Mass, “Psychiatry on Trial”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 4, page 8. From the entry egodystonicity
- 'Mrs' was a word somewhat discountenanced by the Party—you were supposed to call everyone 'comrade'—but with some women one used it instinctively.1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part One, Chapter 2. From the entry discountenance
- Instinctively, before they had a chance to open their mouths, she knew not only that they were bores but the quality of their boringness.1948, John Lehmann, The Penguin new writing. From the entry boringness
- The kind of women who put papers on shelves and had little towels like that instinctively distrusted and disliked Mack and the boys.1945, John Steinbeck, Cannery Row. From the entry properness
- As the group tops a crest, there is a skip of panic among them, and they instinctively cluster around the youngest, a schiltrom of hooves and teeth.2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 12. From the entry sheltron
- This is the so-called paradox of thrift: that in a recession, people instinctively try to save their money instead of spending it, and thus inadvertently make things worse.2020 April 9, Gaby Hinsliff, “We used to moan about normal life, now our fear is we'll never get it back”, in The Guardian. From the entry paradox of thrift
- We instinctively know that nature supplied the form but, ever chary of favors, has passed on to give the beautiful fare perhaps, to a woman of unlovely form.1910 March 19, “For the care of the face”, in Spokane Daily Chronicle, Spokane, Wash.: Chronicle Pub. Co., →OCLC. From the entry chary
Meaning of instinctively
- adverb Innately; by instinct; without being taught.
Questions about instinctively in a sentence
- How do you use instinctively in a sentence?
- Instinctively is used as an adverb. For example: “Fish instinctively know how to swim; most humans don't.”
- What is a short sentence with instinctively?
- “All small running backs instinctively run to daylight.”
- What does instinctively mean?
- Instinctively means innately; by instinct; without being taught.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: instinctively (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this page: “How to use instinctively in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/instinctively. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
