How to Use involuntary in a Sentence

involuntary

adjective

• When the door burst open, she let out an involuntary shriek.
• The lawyer argued that the client's confession was involuntary.
• Breathing and circulation are involuntary processes.
• And that could mean more of them — involuntary ones — in the future.
  — Deanna Pai, Allure, 1 Mar. 2023
• Frontier had the worst record on involuntary bumping last year, the study says.
  — Sean P. Murphy, BostonGlobe.com, 8 May 2023
• He would not be paid again, but his involuntary work would help pave the way toward a new life in Europe.
  — Kenneth R. Rosen, The New Republic, 26 Apr. 2022
• The 26-year-old took a mostly involuntary break of 10 months from racing last year.
  — Jen Murphy, WSJ, 20 Mar. 2021
• How much does an involuntary turnover rate of more than 100% (the lower end of turnover in retail and fast food) cost a company?
  — Ulrich Atz, Fortune, 10 May 2023
• One in eight of all renters in the city experienced some kind of involuntary move every two years.
  — Mike Gousha and John D. Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8 July 2021
• Later, McBroom swayed and rocked through the songs and prayers of the service, the involuntary movements of unimaginable loss.
  — Washington Post, 8 July 2021
• If the position of girl online is involuntary, does that make all of us its victims?
  — Alex Quicho, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2023
• Pedestrians still had to pick their way with care during the rainy season, but the days when a walk down the street at night could end with an involuntary mud bath were gone.
  — Gary Kamiya, SFChronicle.com, 12 June 2020
• The brain is able to control all of its daily actions—both voluntary and involuntary—through the work of its nerve cells or neurons.
  — Patti Greco, Health, 11 Feb. 2023
• Nora speaks her mind the way others breathe: an involuntary reflex, not a choice.
  — Deborah Copaken, The Atlantic, 25 July 2021
• Keep in mind, though, involuntary bumping is very rare.
  — Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 31 May 2023
• Coke said Friday the job cuts would come in the form of voluntary and involuntary reductions.
  — Alicia Wallace, CNN, 28 Aug. 2020
• Right now, if someone in the state is committed to involuntary treatment, their name will be on the list of people who cannot purchase a gun.
  — Rubén Rosario, Twin Cities, 17 Aug. 2019
• Most people have had hiccups, an involuntary spasm of the muscles of breathing.
  — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 1 Apr. 2022
• As a boy, Ben developed an involuntary tic around 4 or 5 years old.
  — Rory Appleton, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Nov. 2021
• Some of it is involuntary and has to do with old age and being widowed, some with shifts in lifestyles among the young, some with housing policy.
  — Frank Trentmann, The New Republic, 10 Aug. 2020
• This often leads to involuntary loss of urine very quickly.
  — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 12 Nov. 2021
• Phoenix's letter received the support of PETA, who criticized the park's actions and called for the end of the bears' involuntary role in show business.
  — Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE.com, 3 Aug. 2021
• The girl does that uncomfortable giggle, that involuntary laugh-spasm Corinne has tried so hard to train out of herself.
  — Rebecca Makkai, Harper's Magazine, 17 Aug. 2021
• The involuntary motion of the fly in the presentation is pivotal.
  — Andrew Pegman, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2020
• Brown, who is now forty-five, was an involuntary celebrity before she was born, and is still pursued by news crews from as far away as Uzbekistan.
  — Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2023
• The moves by two of the nation’s four biggest airlines represent the first — and likely the largest part — of involuntary job cuts across the industry in coming days.
  — The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Oct. 2020
• The moves by two of the nation's four biggest airlines represent the first — and likely the largest part — of involuntary job cuts across the industry in coming days.
  — CBS News, 1 Oct. 2020
• Simply put, one of the hallmark features of FND is that patients feel their symptoms are involuntary.
  — Z Paige L’erario, Scientific American, 31 Mar. 2023
• The history of enslaved firefighters offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on involuntary labor to fight blazes.
  — Justin Hawkins / Made By History, TIME, 31 Jan. 2025
• Hamm maintained that Frazier lost consciousness quickly and that his movements were likely involuntary.
  — Kristan Hawkins, Newsweek, 7 Feb. 2025

Last Updated: 4 Mar 2025