spontaneousadjective
uk/spɒnˈteɪ.ni.əs/us/spɑːnˈteɪ.ni.əs/happening or done in a natural, often sudden way, without any planning or without being forced:
His jokes seemed spontaneous, but were in fact carefully prepared beforehand.
approving She's such a spontaneous, lively woman.
More examples
- I am certain both these statements were spontaneous and genuine.
- The audience broke into spontaneous applause.
- What happened was not a spontaneous outburst of violence.
- This was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion.
- We had no plans to do it - it was a spontaneous thing.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Not expected or planned
- ad hoc
- ad hocism
- ad hockery
- ad lib
- ad-lib
- adventitious
- against (all) the odds/against all odds idiom
- explosive
- involuntary
- it's just one of those things idiom
- just like that idiom
- make sth up as you go along idiom
- muddle
- rude
- spur
- unawares
- undreamed of
- unexpected
- unforeseen
- unintended
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spontaneity
noun [ U ] uk/ˌspɒn.təˈneɪ.ə.ti/us/ˌspɑːn.tənˈeɪ.ə.t̬i/approving
The script has a refreshing spontaneity and sparkle.
spontaneously
adverb uk/spɒnˈteɪ.ni.əs.li/us/spɑːnˈteɪ.ni.əs.li/
The liquid spontaneously ignited.