knee-jerky

English

Etymology

knee-jerk +‎ -y

Adjective

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

1. (informal) Exhibiting or characteristic of a rash or automatic response.
   • 1991, Gordon Rogoff, American Theatre, volume 8, page 224:

     Could you please resolve to control your knee-jerky impulse to give every Tom, Dick, and Harry (Kupfer?) a standing ovation?

   • 2003 May 12, Paul McNamara, “Bet on the Internet winning this one”, in Network World, volume 20, number 19, page 64:

     Despite possessing a libertarian streak that's widening over time, Buzz doesn't get all knee-jerky in opposing new government regulation, even when politicians start messing with the Internet.

   • 2006, Carl H. Klaus, Letters to Kate: Life After Life, University of Iowa Press, →ISBN, pages 125–126:

     Yet when Carol called, my immediate reaction — “How sad” or words to that effect — was so inappropriate, so knee-jerky, that I'm embarrassed to report it.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:knee-jerky.

Synonyms

• knee-jerkish