Spontaneous Meaning
/spɒnˈteɪ.ni.əs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjSelf-generated; happening without any apparent external cause.
adjSelf-directed; happening or acting without external cause or instigation; proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or momentary impulse.
Sentence Examples
A spontaneous fire started in the hay.
Teaching spontaneous thinking is difficult in schools.
We had a lot of spontaneous offers from them.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The crowd's ____ applause erupted without any prompting from the speaker.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ round of applause broke out in the theater after the lead actress finished her final monologue.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Late Latin sponte Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Late Latin -nus Late Latin -ānus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Indo-European *-éyos Proto-Italic *-ejos Proto-Italic *-eos Late Latin -eus Late Latin -āneus Late Latin spontāneuslbor. English spontaneous Learned borrowing from Late Latin spontāneus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Lady Bertram agreed to it all with a calm “Yes”; and at the end of a quarter of an hour’s silent consideration spontaneously observed, “Sir Thomas, I have been thinking—and I am very glad we took Fanny as we did, for now the others are away we feel the good of it.”"
— 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, J. Johnson:
"YSL, as he is often called, is equally capable of casual, aristocratic cruelty and earthy, spontaneous tenderness, and when you study his face it can be hard to distinguish boredom from rapture."
— 2015 May 7, A. O. Scott, “Review: ‘Saint Laurent,’ Beautiful People, High Fashion and Career at Its Pinnacle”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2019:
"He persisted in his design; and, because he would not make his wants known, actually subsisted for several days on hips, haws and sloes, and other spontaneous fruits which he gathered in the woods and fields."
— 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 106, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume IV, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The crowd's ____ applause erupted without any prompting from the speaker.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ round of applause broke out in the theater after the lead actress finished her final monologue.