involuntary
- adjective
- /ˌɪnˈvɑːlənˌtɛri/
- The doctor explained that the patient's seizures were an involuntary reaction to the medication.
- involuntary movements
- voluntary or involuntary
- involuntary servitude
You could say that they're neither involuntary nor voluntary.
- You could say that they're neither involuntary nor voluntary.
- OK, so he's charged with involuntary manslaughter for the shooting of.
- Add to this the fact that rape can initiate the involuntary reflexive process of conception.
- This effectively and publicly condemns involuntary colonization by a foreign power.
- Limerance can also be defined as an involuntary state of intense desire.
- Down to this moment when this lightness of tone is belied by the involuntary shrinking of his body.
- And the And the reason why it's so great is because laughter is involuntary.
- I my my goal with longevity research is to abolish the plague of involuntary death.
- Like, even if it's three years, if you end up in Tennessee in your first week in an involuntary hold, I'll be there.
- And we can look at the ways in which they are involuntary foreigners in their own countries.
- I mean, that make it and and there is a way you get at truth better when you make something funny because because laughter is involuntary.
Examples
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She made an involuntary movement when the loud noise startled her.
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I just did something involuntary.
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I'm sorry, that was an involuntary response.
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Those kinds of involuntary restrictions on the rights of refugees are wrong.
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It was an involuntary reflex.
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Huntington's disease affects the central nervous system and causes involuntary jerky movements and double vision.
Academic text (2012) -
His laughter was involuntary, triggered by the joke he heard unexpectedly.
Synonyms
Not aware of what you do or not acting on purpose
Done without thinking, like a quick natural reaction
Happening by accident
Happening on its own without being asked or wanted
An action that happens without a person choosing or controlling it
Occurs without a person's control and not on purpose, like a sudden laugh
Antonyms
Compounds
- Specialized
A muscle in organs like the stomach or bladder that works without you thinking, not the heart
How Voluntary
Surface Forms
Morphology
involuntary = voluntary (transparent) = in + volunt + ary
The prefix 'in-' straightforwardly negates 'voluntary', giving the meaning 'not voluntary' or 'not under the will'.
Etymology
Involuntary comes from the parts in- meaning 'not' and voluntary, which comes from a root meaning 'will' or 'wish' and appears in the word volunteer. So an involuntary action is one done 'not by will', something you do without choosing or without thinking.