Meanings
comparative more knee-jerk · superlative most knee-jerk · alternative kneejerk · alternative knee jerk
- Unthinking, not carefully considered, (nearly) automatic, spontaneous, easily predictable.
He gave a knee-jerk response.
2 more examples
There were knee-jerk demands from trade unions for immediate withdrawal of all HSTs; these were wrong-headed.
2022 March 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Drains, trains and Control”, in RAIL, number 953, page 3The knee-jerk reaction is further evidence of just how panicked investors are about the stability of the global financial system after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week.
2023 March 15, Michael J. de la Merced, Maureen Farrell, “Credit Suisse to Borrow Up to $54 Billion From Central Bank”, in The New York Times
plural knee-jerks · alternative kneejerk · alternative knee jerk
- A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).
Synonyms: kneejerk reflex, patellar reflex
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).
Origin
From knee + jerk, First attested c. 1876, and derived from a figurative sense of the patellar reflex.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch voorspelbaar
- voorspelbaarreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
Finnish refleksinomainen vastaus, selkäydin- (such as selkäydinreaktio)
- refleksinomainen vastausreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- selkäydin- (such as selkäydinreaktio)reacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- patellaarirefleksireflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- polviheijastereflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
French prévisible
- prévisiblereacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
German reflexartig, vorhersehbar
- reflexartigreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- vorhersehbarreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- automatischreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- Kniereflexreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- Kniesehnenreflexreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- Patellarreflexreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- Patellarsehnenreflexreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- Kniephänomenreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
Icelandic ósjálfráður, hnéviðbragð
- ósjálfráðurreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- hnéviðbragðreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- hnékippurreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
Norwegian knerefleks, patellarefleks
- knerefleksreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
- patellarefleksreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
Spanish impulsivo, visceral
- impulsivoreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- visceralreacting unthinkingly or spontaneously in an expected manner
- reflejo rotulianoreflex extension of the lower leg due to tap below knee
Cite this entry
knee-jerk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knee-jerk
“knee-jerk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knee-jerk. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knee-jerk,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knee-jerk.
Source: knee-jerk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.