adjective / noun
automatic
aw-tuh-MAT-ik/ˌɔːtəˈmætɪk/
Operating or occurring without separate deliberate intervention.
The automatic faucet releases water when the woman holds her hands beneath it.
Etymology
“Self” and “animated” underlie the Greek idea of acting on one’s own, applied both to willing people and self-moving things. The machinery sense preserves that image of operation without direct human control.
In context
the automatic promotion from E3 to E4 is new as previously Sailors were required to take an advancement exam in order to promote
More examples
- Years of practice made her response almost automatic.
- Late registration carries an automatic penalty.
- He drives an automatic because he prefers not to change gears himself.
- The museum displays an early automatic beside a manually reloaded pistol.
Forms
automatic · automatics
automatically adverb — Without separate deliberate thought or human intervention.
Similar words
- self-operating
- Specifically describes a mechanism that functions without continuous human control.
- involuntary
- Specifically describes action occurring without conscious choice.