Involuntary
[ɪn'vɒlənt(ə)rɪ] or [ɪn'vɑləntɛri]
Definition
(adj.) not subject to the control of the will; 'involuntary manslaughter'; 'involuntary servitude'; 'an involuntary shudder'; 'It (becoming a hero) was involuntary. They sank my boat'- John F.Kennedy .
(adj.) controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control; 'involuntary muscles'; 'gave an involuntary start' .
Typed by Duane--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Not having will or the power of choice.
(a.) Not under the influence or control of the will; not voluntary; as, the involuntary movements of the body; involuntary muscle fibers.
(a.) Not proceeding from choice; done unwillingly; reluctant; compulsory; as, involuntary submission.
Typist: Ruth
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Instinctive, automatic, blind, independent of the will.[2]. Unwilling, reluctant, compulsory, against one's will.
Checker: Williams
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See AMPLE_and_BROAD]
Typed by Jewel
Definition
adj. not voluntary: not having the power of will or choice: not done willingly: not chosen.—adv. Invol′untarily.—n. Invol′untariness.
Checker: Williams
Examples
- It has been involuntary, and I will not encourage it. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- An involuntary comparison between Mr. Lennox and Mr. Thornton arose in her mind. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- As it was, I met him with the most resolute politeness, apologised for my involuntary intrusion (which he called a trespass,) and left the grounds. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- A general shout was of course the signal of his having woke up; and his involuntary inquiry of 'What's the matter? Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- And these involuntary starts of fancy were, after all, but the setting of a picture in which three people kept before him. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- He now and then slided into my lady, instead of ma'am, as an involuntary acknowledgment of Mrs. Sparsit's personal dignity and claims to reverence. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- There was an involuntary tremour on Rebecca's voice, and a tenderness of accent, which perhaps betrayed more than she would willingly have expressed. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- My sorrow may bear involuntary witness against you at the judgement Throne; but my angry thoughts or my reproaches never will, I know! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Thank you: I shall do: I have no broken bones,--only a sprain; and again he stood up and tried his foot, but the result extorted an involuntary Ugh! Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- They extend not beyond a mistake of fact, which moralists have not generally supposed criminal, as being perfectly involuntary. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I gave an involuntary half start at hearing the _alias_: I had forgotten my new name. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- She had grown thin and pale, her eyes filled with involuntary tears, her voice was broken and low. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- On Carry Fisher's part the withdrawal was perhaps not quite involuntary. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Secondly, I would have anyone give me a reason, why virtue and vice may not be involuntary, as well as beauty and deformity. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- This distance, I argued, is accidental--it is involuntary; patienceand it will vanish. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Dr. Cruger saw a continual procession of bees thus crawling out of their involuntary bath. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The next minute her face fell as she glanced about the empty room, adding, with an involuntary sigh, Yes, I am glad, but how I shall miss him. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The involuntary look of horror, fright and aversion, with which the girl regarded him, did not escape his eye. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- And is not this involuntary deprivation caused either by theft, or force, or enchantment? Plato. The Republic.
- It is a fulfilment--the great dark knowledge you can't have in your head--the dark involuntary being. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He said it with an involuntary shudder. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- His was an involuntary confidence, an irrepressible effusion to a soothing friendnot an application to a parent. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Detestation of the high is the involuntary homage of the low. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- An involuntary shudder passed over both of us. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- His actions all seemed involuntary. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- To that point went every leisure moment which her father's claims on her allowed, and every moment of involuntary absence of mind. Jane Austen. Emma.
- My involuntary start occasioned her to lay her hand upon my arm. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
Checker: Williams