Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Alternative spelling of knee-jerk.
  • noun Alternative spelling of knee-jerk.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kneejerk.

Examples

  • The head of the cable association has come out swinging against what he describes as kneejerk criticism of Time Warner Cable's plan to expand trials of a usage-based pricing structure for its Internet service. blog post today, Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, blasted the media-reform group Free Press for trying to sic Congress on "one of the few really healthy, growing and creative parts of our economy."

    InternetNews Realtime News for IT Managers 2009

  • But the British economy has suffered all too often from short-term kneejerk reactions from politicians.

    Heading south – and fast 2011

  • Although Tuesday's interest rate hike spooked global markets, they quickly recovered from what analysts described as a kneejerk reaction by traders.

    China's economy slows in Q3 Tania Branigan in Beijing 2010

  • These practices have been called 'harsh interrogation techniques' by their supporters, namely kneejerk Obama oppos ... and/or former vice president Dick Cheney.

    Tina Dupuy: I Think I Owe Lynndie England an Apology 2009

  • Although Tuesday's interest rate hike spooked global markets, they quickly recovered from what what analysts described as a kneejerk reaction by traders.

    The Guardian World News 2010

  • Sometimes - when the classic Republicans drink the glass of courage - they speak out against the fourth group whose approach to political discourse might be called kneejerk - anything a Democrat - especially a liberal or progressive one - says or does is wrong.

    Pax Nortona - A Blog by Joel Sax 2009

  • This article is misleading and the comments are indicative of developing "kneejerk" reaction culture in America.

    High court rules in voting rights dispute 2009

  • So to avoid that 'kneejerk' it never gets changed.

    [litter] a symptom of deeper issues 2009

  • I find Sully a bit intellectually lazy and prone to the kind of kneejerk reaction and armchair philosophizing that works well in blogs but not so well on paper.

    The Daily Dish: Strange bedpartners Celeste Winant 2006

  • But I still can't quite equate Norman Geras, cricket and country music lover, whose cogent and frequent condemnations of the kind of kneejerk anti-US leftism that calls Zarqawi and his head-choppers 'the resistance' are always made more in sorrow than in anger, with the "Stormin Norm" I read of in today's Sunday Times, 'toast of the neocons' and 'darling of the Washington right wing'.

    February 06, 2005 Laban 2005

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.