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

Unite's deputy regional secretary, Davy Thompson, said minimum service levels are "the most invidious example of knee jerk legislating this country has seen in a long time".

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2024

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

"We didn't want a knee jerk sell-off of all the Russian metal," said an executive at one of the banks storing gold for ETFs, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

From Reuters • Dec. 21, 2022

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.