automatic - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

If someone asks, “How are you?” and you reply, “Fine,” without really thinking about it, that’s an automatic reply. Something that’s automatic is done without thinking, almost as if you’re a well-programmed machine.

The word automatic can be used to describe a machine that works on its own, performing its tasks with little or no human intervention, such as an automatic transmission on a car. Or, automatic can describe a person whose actions are like a machine's. If you flash a smile every time someone walks through the door, it’s an automatic smile, a natural reaction you didn't think about or plan in advance.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: automatic

1	adj	operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control
2	n	a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: automatic

1

adj operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control

“automatic transmission”

“a budget deficit that caused automatic spending cuts”

Synonyms: autoloading, self-loading, semiautomatic
(of firearms) capable of automatic loading and firing continuously; automated, machine-controlled, machine-driven
operated by automation; self-acting, self-activating, self-moving, self-regulating
designed to activate or move or regulate itself; self-locking
locking automatically when closed; self-winding
designed so that manual winding is unnecessary; semiautomatic
partially automatic; smart
capable of independent and apparently intelligent action; mechanical
using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices

Antonyms:: manual
requiring human effort; hand-operated, non-automatic
operated by hand; show more antonyms...

adj without volition or conscious control

“the automatic shrinking of the pupils of the eye in strong light”

Synonyms:: reflex, reflexive

: involuntary
controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control

adj resembling the unthinking functioning of a machine

“an automatic `thank you'”

Synonyms:: automatonlike, machinelike, robotic, robotlike

: mechanical
using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices

2

n a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released

Synonyms:: automatic pistol

Type of:: automatic firearm, automatic gun, automatic weapon
a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released; handgun, pistol, shooting iron, side arm
a firearm that is held and fired with one hand

n light machine gun

Synonyms:: automatic rifle, machine rifle

Types:: assault gun, assault rifle
any of the automatic rifles or semiautomatic rifles with large magazines designed for military use; BAR, Browning automatic rifle
a portable .30 caliber automatic rifle operated by gas pressure and fed by cartridges from a magazine; used by United States troops in World War I and in World War II and in the Korean War

Type of:: automatic firearm, automatic gun, automatic weapon
a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released; machine gun
a rapidly firing automatic gun (often mounted)