knee-jerkとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From knee +‎ jerk, First attested c. 1876, and derived from a figurative sense of the patellar reflex.

発音

形容詞

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

1. Unthinking, not carefully considered, (nearly) automatic, spontaneous, easily predictable.

   He gave a knee-jerk response.

   • 2022 March 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Drains, trains and Control”, in RAIL, number 953, page 3:

     There were knee-jerk demands from trade unions for immediate withdrawal of all HSTs; these were wrong-headed.

   • 2023 March 15, Michael J. de la Merced, Maureen Farrell, “Credit Suisse to Borrow Up to $54 Billion From Central Bank”, in The New York Times‎:

     The knee-jerk reaction is further evidence of just how panicked investors are about the stability of the global financial system after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week.

派生語

名詞

knee-jerk (plural knee-jerks)

1. A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).

同意語

• kneejerk reflex
• patellar reflex