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say it: IN-stingkt
instinct is a noun and adjective meaning "inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli". It carries 2 recorded senses.
inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli
“the spawning instinct in salmon”
“altruistic instincts in social animals”
(followed by `with') deeply filled or permeated
“imbued with the spirit of the Reformation”
“words instinct with love”
“it is replete with misery”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for instinct come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.