instinctively

English

Etymology

From instinctive +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈstɪŋktɪvli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧stinc‧tive‧ly

Adverb

instinctively (comparative more instinctively, superlative most instinctively)

1. Innately; by instinct; without being taught.

   Fish instinctively know how to swim; most humans don't.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 26:

     She loved him so passionately, and he was so godlike in her eyes; and being, though untrained, instinctively refined, her nature cried for his tutelary guidance.

   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 270:

     'I am, perhaps, overgreedy, but I sense a good cook instinctively.'

   • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50:

     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.

Synonyms

• instinctually

Translations

innately, by instinct, without being taught

• Catalan: instintivament
• Dutch: instinctief (nl)
• Finnish: vaistonvaraisesti, vaistomaisesti (fi)
• French: instinctivement (fr)
• German: unwillkürlich (de)
• Greek: ενστικτωδώς (el) (enstiktodós)
• Hungarian: ösztönösen (hu)
• Italian: istintivamente (it)
• Polish: instynktownie (pl)
• Russian: инстинктивно (ru) (instinktivno)
• Spanish: instintivamente