English

Adjective

knee-jerkish ‎(comparative more knee-jerkish, superlative most knee-jerkish)

1. (informal) Exhibiting or characteristic of a rash or automatic response.
   • 1990, Kurdistan Times, Issues 1-3, page 230:

     Thus to judge their heart-felt reactions, some of which may look "knee-jerkish" at times, without taking into account their past bitter experiences, their present insecurities, or their dreams would be presumptuous, to say the least.

   • 2001, Terry Osborne, Sightlines: The View of a Valley Through the Voice of Depression, University Press of New England (2001), ISBN 9781584650836, page 39:

     It seemed a little knee-jerkish anyway, too obvious for the neighbor across the street to do, and a little too much like adolescent vandalism for my own conscience.

   • 2006, The Oriental Economist Report, Volumes 74-75, page 91:

     Fukuda cares deeply about policy issues. He worries that Abe is a bit shallow on policy matters, and a bit knee-jerkish in his populism.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:knee-jerkish.

Synonyms

• knee-jerky