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INVOLUNTARY
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not subject to the control of the will
Example:
It (becoming a hero) was involuntary. They sank my boat
Synonyms:
involuntary; nonvoluntary; unvoluntary
Classified under:
Similar:
driven; goaded (compelled forcibly by an outside agency)
forced (forced or compelled)
unconscious (without conscious volition)
unwilled (without deliberate volition, desire, or intention)
unwilling (in spite of contrary volition)
Also:
unconscious (not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead)
unwilling (not disposed or inclined toward)
Antonym:
voluntary (of your own free will or design; done by choice; not forced or compelled)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control
Example:
gave an involuntary start
Classified under:
Similar:
automatic; reflex; reflexive (without volition or conscious control)
autonomic (relating to or controlled by the autonomic nervous system)
vegetative (relating to involuntary bodily functions)
Domain category:
physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)
Antonym:
voluntary (controlled by individual volition)
Context examples:
A neurological condition affecting the involuntary movements.
(Chorea, NCI Thesaurus)
While she spoke, an involuntary glance showed her Darcy, with a heightened complexion, earnestly looking at her, and his sister overcome with confusion, and unable to lift up her eyes.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Dystonia is a movement disorder that causes involuntary contractions of your muscles.
(Dystonia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
The part of the nervous system of vertebrates that controls involuntary actions of the smooth muscles and heart and glands.
(Autonomic nervous system, NCI Thesaurus)
An involuntary, primal response in the neonate to loud noise or the feeling of falling.
(Moro Reflex, NCI Thesaurus)
My sorrow may bear involuntary witness against you at the judgement Throne; but my angry thoughts or my reproaches never will, I know!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Oxybutynin blocks muscarinic receptors in smooth muscle, hence inhibiting acetylcholine binding and subsequent reduction of involuntary muscle contractions.
(Oxybutynin, NCI Thesaurus)
A combination of opsoclonus (involuntary conjugate eye movements of large amplitude) and myoclonic jerks.
(Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
Involuntary movements of the eye that are divided into two types, jerk and pendular.
(Nystagmus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
To that point went every leisure moment which her father's claims on her allowed, and every moment of involuntary absence of mind.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
