as in automatic
done instantly and without conscious thought or decision
a colleague known for her knee-jerk rejection of any proposal that she didn't originate
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of knee-jerk
The strategist said the sweet spot for stocks is between 100,000 and 125,000, which can result in a knee-jerk rally in the S & P 500 in the range of between 0.5% and 1%.
—
Yun Li, CNBC, 9 Jan. 2025
Most importantly, never let yourself be rushed into making a knee-jerk reaction, no matter how much urgency is injected into a conversation.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2024
Instead, the club concentrates most of its recruitment efforts on the longer summer window, rather than what tends to be knee-jerk mid-season trading.
—Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 26 Dec. 2024
By late season two, her knee-jerk reaction to having guests begins to feel almost pathological, a disease that can only be cured by launching a caviar line and holding space for that on the kitchen island instead.
—Kinsey Jasnoch, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for knee-jerk 
Yun Li, CNBC, 9 Jan. 2025
Most importantly, never let yourself be rushed into making a knee-jerk reaction, no matter how much urgency is injected into a conversation.
—Davey Winder, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2024
Instead, the club concentrates most of its recruitment efforts on the longer summer window, rather than what tends to be knee-jerk mid-season trading.
—Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 26 Dec. 2024
By late season two, her knee-jerk reaction to having guests begins to feel almost pathological, a disease that can only be cured by launching a caviar line and holding space for that on the kitchen island instead.
—Kinsey Jasnoch, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for knee-jerk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knee-jerk
Adjective
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Health inspectors said an automatic dishwasher was out of service and the staff had not set up a manual sanitizing station.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacramento Bee,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Tedesco’s side won just one of their six matches in League A Group 2, finishing nine points behind France and Italy while avoiding automatic relegation to League B by finishing above Israel on goal difference.—
Guillermo Rai,
The Athletic,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
When the reflex actions are prevented, those muscle movements that ultimately cause the quick spoilage don’t occur.—
Simon Mainwaring,
Forbes,
13 Jan. 2025
-
Basal tears keep the eye moist, while reflex tears are meant to protect the eye from irritants like dust.—
Jeremy Engle,
New York Times,
25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
At an early age, Melvin was learning about mechanical and chemical engineering through family activities with his parents who were school teachers.—
Anna Halkidis,
Parents,
4 Feb. 2025
-
Those concerned with historical accuracy won’t love this change, though the developer clearly designed the leaders to have some mechanical synergy with historically appropriate civilizations; these pairings are even given special labeling in the civilization-selection screen.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
His staff shielded him from spontaneous encounters with the media, stepping in to lead him away from unscripted situations.—
Nolan Finley,
Twin Cities,
31 Jan. 2025
-
Think back to that love story where everything felt spontaneous and carefree — this could feel just like that but with a deeper, more romantic flair.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
26 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Its low latency allows for instinctive operation whether controlled by a single operator or remotely.—
Beatrice Verhoeven,
The Hollywood Reporter,
27 Jan. 2025
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Every look is incredible — spontaneous, instinctive, and full of a desire to dream and fall in love with fashion all over again.—
Luisa Zargani,
WWD,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The team demonstrated the robotic arm both gently stroking an egg (without the HeTRM) and cracking the shell (with the HeTRM).—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
29 Jan. 2025
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Around 350 ninth-grade students learned from 12 different demonstrations and research topics Wednesday, some of which included the science of growing cells, the exploration of bone disease through simulations, deep tissue technology and robotic prosthetics.—
Gael Langdon,
arkansasonline.com,
29 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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But, an approach solely focused on sudden movements could lead to so many false triggers, users would likely find the option more annoying than beneficial—and that’s where machine learning, a segment of AI focused on pattern recognition, comes into play.—
Reece Rogers,
WIRED,
25 Jan. 2025
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The coastal city of Rancho Palos Verdes suffered sudden movement from a decades-old complex of slow-moving landslides last fall, twisting roads and putting multimillion-dollar homes on the brink of destruction.—
Karina Tsui,
CNN,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Harroun installed it with a bracket above the dashboard rather than have a mechanic ride in the race with him, as was the custom of the day.—
George Petras,
USA TODAY,
24 May 2024
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When Part 4 was released in August 2023, mechanic Bennie was losing his garage.—
Cheryl V. Jackson,
The Indianapolis Star,
17 Apr. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near knee-jerk
Cite this Entry
“Knee-jerk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knee-jerk. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
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