adj.
Pronunciation: spän- ' t ā -n ē - ə s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin spontaneus, from Latin sponte of one's free will, voluntarily
Date: 1653
1 : proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
2 : arising from a momentary impulse
3 : controlled and directed internally : SELF-ACTING < spontaneous movement characteristic of living things>
4 : produced without being planted or without human labor : INDIGENOUS
5 : developing or occurring without apparent external influence, force, cause, or treatment
6 : not apparently contrived or manipulated : NATURAL
– spon · ta · ne · ous · ly adverb
– spon · ta · ne · ous · ness noun
synonyms SPONTANEOUS , IMPULSIVE , INSTINCTIVE , AUTOMATIC , MECHANICAL mean acting or activated without deliberation. SPONTANEOUS implies lack of prompting and connotes naturalness <a spontaneous burst of applause>. IMPULSIVE implies acting under stress of emotion or spirit of the moment < impulsive acts of violence>. INSTINCTIVE stresses action involving neither judgment nor will <blinking is an instinctive reaction>. AUTOMATIC implies action engaging neither the mind nor the emotions and connotes a predictable response <his denial was automatic >. MECHANICAL stresses the lifeless, often perfunctory character of the response <a mechanical teaching method>.