Meanings
comparative more spontaneous · superlative most spontaneous
- Self-directed; happening or acting without external cause or instigation; proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or momentary impulse.
He made a spontaneous offer of help.
1 more example
Lady Bertram agreed to it all with a calm “Yes”; and at the end of a quarter of an hour’s silent consideration spontaneously observed, “Sir Thomas, I have been thinking—and I am very glad we took Fanny as we did, for now the others are away we feel the good of it.”
1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, J. JohnsonSynonyms: autonomous, automatic, involuntary, natural, unforced · Antonyms: induced, stimulated, voluntary
- Done by one's own free choice, or without planning.
YSL, as he is often called, is equally capable of casual, aristocratic cruelty and earthy, spontaneous tenderness, and when you study his face it can be hard to distinguish boredom from rapture.
2015 May 7, A. O. Scott, “Review: ‘Saint Laurent,’ Beautiful People, High Fashion and Career at Its Pinnacle”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2019Synonyms: impulsive, extemporaneous, unpremeditated, unprompted · Antonyms: calculated, deliberate, planned, premeditated
- Controlled and directed internally; self-active; spontaneous movement characteristic of living things.
- Produced without being planted or without human cultivation or labor.
He persisted in his design; and, because he would not make his wants known, actually subsisted for several days on hips, haws and sloes, and other spontaneous fruits which he gathered in the woods and fields.
1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 106, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume IV, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC - Sudden, without warning.
- Said or done without prior planning or prior writing.
He made spontaneous remarks in the court, after being asked an unexpected question.
Synonyms: unwritten, abrupt, precipitous, subitaneous, abrupt, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSelf-directed; happening or acting without external cause or instigation; proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or momentary impulse.
adjectiveDone by one's own free choice, or without planning.
adjectiveSaid or done without prior planning or prior writing.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehappening or arising without apparent external cause
adjectivesaid or done without having been planned or written in advance
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsponte
- Late Latinspontāneu
- Englishspontaneous
Learned borrowing from Late Latin spontāneus.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek αὐτόματος
- αὐτόματος (autómatos)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Arabic عَفَوِيّ, ذَاتِيّ
- عَفَوِيّ (ʕafawiyy)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- ذَاتِيّ (ḏātiyy)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- تَلْقَائِيّ (talqāʔiyy)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Bulgarian самопроизво́лен, непринуден
- самопроизво́лен (samoproizvólen)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- непринуден (neprinuden)proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- спонтанен (spontanen)arising from a momentary impulse
- спонтанен (spontanen)done by one's own free choice, or without planning
- естествен (estestven)produced without being planted or without human labor
- внезапен (vnezapen)sudden, without warning
Catalan espontani, espontani
- espontaniself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- espontaniproceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- espontaniarising from a momentary impulse
Chinese Mandarin 自发的
- 自发的self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Czech spontánní, spontánní
- spontánníself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontánníproceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- impulzivníarising from a momentary impulse
- spontánnídone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Dutch spontaan
- spontaanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Esperanto spontanea, spontana
- spontaneaself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontanaself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Finnish spontaani, impulsiivinen
- spontaaniself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- impulsiivinenarising from a momentary impulse
- spontaaninot apparently contrived or manipulated
- spontaanidone by one's own free choice, or without planning
- oma-aloitteinendone by one's own free choice, or without planning
- omaehtoinendone by one's own free choice, or without planning
- luonnollinenproduced without being planted or without human labor
- yllättäväsudden, without warning
- äkillinensudden, without warning
French spontané, volontaire
- spontanéself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- volontaireself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontanéproceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- impulsifarising from a momentary impulse
- naturelnot apparently contrived or manipulated
- spontanénot apparently contrived or manipulated
- spontanédone by one's own free choice, or without planning
- réflexecontrolled and directed internally
- indigèneproduced without being planted or without human labor
- endémiqueproduced without being planted or without human labor
- soudainsudden, without warning
German spontan, spontan
- spontanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontandone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Greek αυθόρμητος, εθελοντικός
- αυθόρμητος (afthórmitos)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- εθελοντικός (ethelontikós)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- αυθόρμητος (afthórmitos)proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- πηγαίος (pigaíos)proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- ενστικτώδης (enstiktódis)proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- παρορμητικός (parormitikós)arising from a momentary impulse
- αυθόρμητος (afthórmitos)arising from a momentary impulse
- αυθόρμητος (afthórmitos)not apparently contrived or manipulated
- φυσικός (fysikós)not apparently contrived or manipulated
- αυθόρμητος (afthórmitos)done by one's own free choice, or without planning
- αβίαστος (avíastos)done by one's own free choice, or without planning
- ακούσιος (akoúsios)controlled and directed internally
Hungarian spontán, spontán
- spontánself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontándone by one's own free choice, or without planning
- spontánsudden, without warning
Italian spontaneo, spontaneo
- spontaneoself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontaneodone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Latin spontāneus, extemporālis
- spontāneusself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- extemporālisdone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Malay spontan
- spontanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Māori tene, tene
- teneself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- teneproceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- ohiaarising from a momentary impulse
- tenedone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Norwegian Bokmål spontan, plutselig
- spontanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- plutseligsudden, without warning
Persian خود جوش، داوطلبانه، ناگهانی
- خود جوش، داوطلبانه، ناگهانیsudden, without warning
Polish spontaniczny, samorzutny
- spontanicznyself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- samorzutnyself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontanicznydone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Portuguese espontâneo, espontâneo
- espontâneoself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- espontâneodone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Romanian spontan, spontan
- spontanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontandone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Russian спонта́нный, самопроизво́льный
- спонта́нный (spontánnyj)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- самопроизво́льный (samoproizvólʹnyj)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- доброво́льный (dobrovólʹnyj)done by one's own free choice, or without planning
Scottish Gaelic saor-thoileach
- saor-thoileachdone by one's own free choice, or without planning
Spanish espontáneo, espontáneo
- espontáneoself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- espontáneoproceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- espontáneoarising from a momentary impulse
Swedish spontan, spontan
- spontanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontanproceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
- spontanarising from a momentary impulse
- spontandone by one's own free choice, or without planning
- reflexmässigcontrolled and directed internally
Tagalog kusa
- kusaself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Turkish kendiliğinden, spontan
- kendiliğindenself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- spontanself generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Ukrainian спонта́нний, мимові́льний
- спонта́нний (spontánnyj)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
- мимові́льний (mymovílʹnyj)self generated; happening without any apparent external cause
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with spontaneous
Cite this entry
spontaneous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spontaneous
“spontaneous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spontaneous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spontaneous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spontaneous.
Source: spontaneous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.