gut reaction
8
4.3
- noun
- /ɡʌt riˈækʃən/
:
reacción instintiva
- Even if their gut reaction was that we were lying, they still believe us.
- my gut reaction was to stay away
- just a gut reaction
- rely on their gut reaction
and it's just my gut reaction. It's my instinct.
- and it's just my gut reaction. It's my instinct.
- It's what you do with that immediate gut reaction, OK?
- And I think people have a natural gut reaction to recoil at that.
- And my gut reaction has always been not to take them on board.
- So I think that in the best case, what you have is a kind of feedback loop that requires both gut reactions and a willingness to question them.
- My initial gut reaction, as I'm sure almost every journalist in this room thought, was no, But I think that can be finessed.
- And I the initial gut reaction wasn't one of like, what was me?
- I read it and there was just something that just gave me a gut reaction, not just to make it, but to make it.
- You know, there's one thing that's interesting to me in this is, you know, my first gut reaction.
- That's the reason because of the way the, the, the fear and anxiety effects this vortex here with the gut, yeah, gut reaction that comes from here.
- And a gut reaction is that it is important that we believe that there exists free will.
- You know, I actually, that's my gut reaction to that statement.
Examples
-
Her gut reaction was to help the lost child immediately.
-
So your gut reaction is to say, 'Take a hike, I don't need this headache.'
Academic text (2005) -
And my gut reaction has always been not to take them on board.
-
Did you have the gut reaction of saying no, no, no, no to all four?
Blog text (19) -
Was this just a gut reaction, or something that you thought through at length?
Blog text (34) -
So if you had to go on a gut reaction, what do you think when you hear "important"?
Blog text (7) -
My immediate gut reaction is it's cute.
-
My first gut reaction to just the plot was that it was pretty good.
Blog text (20) -
I don't think you appreciate the gut reaction people have to these things.
-
They get a gut reaction to something, they go with it.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A natural ability to understand or do something
925
2.6
An immediate feeling after hearing or seeing something
54
3.7
A quick action you do without thinking in response to something
2
3.4
A quick movement your body makes without thinking, for example pulling your hand from something hot
1
5.1
A quick sense that something is true without thinking
A quick action you do without thinking
An automatic action your body makes without thinking when something touches or moves near you
An automatic body response to a touch or sound that happens without thinking
An automatic action your body makes without being taught
Antonyms
How Instinctive
Surface Forms
Morphology
gut + reaction
The meaning 'an instinctive, immediate response' is related to the literal constituents: 'reaction' = response and 'gut' used metaphorically to signal a visceral/instinctive source. However, the mapping from the physical 'gut' to 'instinct' is a metaphorical extension that not all B1 learners will automatically infer without exposure, so the relation is partially predictable but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Gut reaction comes from the image of feelings starting in your belly, because people often notice a sudden feeling in their stomach when surprised or scared. So a gut reaction means a quick, instinctive feeling you have 'without thinking'.