Synonyms of instincts

instincts

noun

plural of instinct

as in tendencies

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.

Related Words

• tendencies
• skills
• inclinations
• impulses
• dispositions
• proclivities
• predispositions
• predilections
• affinities
• propensities
• urges
• biases
• needs
• capabilities
• leanings
• drives
• penchants
• powers
• partialities
• facilities
• habitudes
• turns
• capacities
• potentials
• competences
• faculties
• proficiencies
• talents
• aptitudes
• gifts
• specialties
• specialities
• endowments
• bents
• geniuses
• fortes
• specialisms
• knacks
• flairs
• heads

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of instincts

Our national instincts are for biting our lip and not causing a fuss. — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 14 July 2026

Advertisement Parental instincts, Scheutz mused, are subconscious, visceral. — Dana Suskind, Time, 14 July 2026

Angermayer had pushed D’Souza to moderate his initial anything-goes instincts. — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

The goal isn’t realism; the goal is to sharpen skills and build instincts before any of those situations occur in real life. — Demetri Giannikopoulos, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026

Battista is coming into his own as a hitter but has defensive instincts and speed. — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 11 July 2026

Your instincts are sharp, but your tone could also turn a productive conversation into unnecessary drama. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026

Trump is sub-ideological, and the instincts that guide his decisions are generally right-wing rather than left-wing. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026

The resulting album, Exhale, sounds like a musical conversation, an attempt to find the overlap in their interests—and also, perhaps, to make sparks fly where their instincts clash. — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 6 July 2026