knee jerk

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Everyone recognizes there is a growing antibiotic resistance crisis, and the knee jerk reaction is to develop new antibiotics," You added.

From Science Daily • Feb. 22, 2024

"So we did have that sort of knee jerk over-reaction and it is something we have seen repeatedly in recent years here, sort of this triumph of hope over experience that markets keep going through."

From Reuters • Sep. 12, 2023

In the past, Campbell said, India’s leaders have had “almost a knee jerk reaction” to resist such massive multilateral projects.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2023

But a former cabinet minister - strongly opposed to withdrawal - described the idea as "knee jerk nonsense".

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2023

We see excellent examples of cerebral facilitation and inhibition in the case of the knee jerk.

From Psychology A Study Of Mental Life by Woodworth, Robert S.