as in tendency
a usually innate ability or desire to perform a specific activity
Pouncing on mice is a cat's natural instinct. We needed all of our survival instincts to make it through the weeks lost at sea.
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Recent Examples of instinct
And that kind of contradicts your instinct as an actor.
—
Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Jan. 2026
This public instinct didn’t emerge in a vacuum.
—Dustin Olson, Boston Herald, 25 Jan. 2026
Your instincts are probably already solid, but a little wisdom from a professional stylist goes a long way.
—Annie Blackman, InStyle, 25 Jan. 2026
That instinct is understandable.
—Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for instinct
Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Jan. 2026
This public instinct didn’t emerge in a vacuum.
—Dustin Olson, Boston Herald, 25 Jan. 2026
Your instincts are probably already solid, but a little wisdom from a professional stylist goes a long way.
—Annie Blackman, InStyle, 25 Jan. 2026
That instinct is understandable.
—Chicago Tribune, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for instinct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for instinct
Noun
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New Jersey had a tendency to have armed folks standing in the polling places where Black people were voting.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
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Robinson spoke to other women in their twenties who also lowballed their salary expectations, a concerning tendency given Gen Z women already have salary expectations $6,200 less than men their age, according to research from expert network Handshake.—
Jacqueline Munis,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Using skills, Codex can pull design assets from Figma, manage bug tracking and releases in Linear, deploy applications to cloud platforms such as Vercel and Cloudflare, and generate images using OpenAI’s image model.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
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Kate had changed her hair into a stylish bob — but apparently hadn’t updated her mothering skills — two years later when, in the sequel, Kevin again was discovered missing, at the Miami airport.—
Jocelyn Noveck,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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This is because when people lose weight, the body’s natural inclination is to return to its previous weight – a phenomenon called metabolic adaptation.—
Amy J. Sheer,
The Conversation,
5 Feb. 2026
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The 11 satellites on board are flying to a mid-inclination orbit.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Unexpected conversations about money, desire or power can feel destabilizing, especially when creative risks or romantic impulses clash with practical responsibilities.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
3 Feb. 2026
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In season eight, that impulse carries Mallozzi from the shores of Cuba to the interior mountains of Taiwan and the heart of New Zealand’s Māori communities.—
Kat Chen,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Despite some outsiders' ideas of the common Amish person's disposition, Bates dismisses any misconceptions about the way she was treated while living in the community.—
Zoey Lyttle,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
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By coordinating the full lifecycle of nuclear energy—from fuel production to waste disposition—the department seeks to improve national energy security and enhance the country’s position in the global nuclear energy market.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Instinct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/instinct. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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