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# spontaneous

adjective (spontaneous, more spontaneous); adverb spontaneously

«spontaneous» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Spontaneous means happening or done suddenly, without being planned. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#m1)
2. A spontaneous person often does things on the spur of the moment, naturally and freely. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#m2)
3. (science) Spontaneous describes something that happens by itself without being caused from outside, like spontaneous combustion. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday life spontaneous fun is not planned: a spontaneous trip to the beach. In stories it shows a character is lively and free, or a crowd reacts naturally (spontaneous applause). In science «spontaneous» means happening on its own. Phrases: spontaneous applause, a spontaneous decision, spontaneous combustion.

### Examples

- The crowd burst into spontaneous applause. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x1)
- We made a spontaneous trip to the park. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x2)
- Her laugh was warm and spontaneous. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x3)
- He is spontaneous and always has new ideas. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x4)
- The hug was spontaneous, not planned. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x5)
- Piles of wet hay can catch fire by spontaneous combustion. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x6)
- Our teacher likes spontaneous questions in class. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/#x7)

### Note

Spelled -taneous: spon-TAY-nee-us. Opposite: planned, deliberate, rehearsed. Myth: «spontaneous human combustion» (people bursting into flames by themselves) is not supported by science.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «spontaneous» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spontaneous/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«spontaneous» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/spontaneous.html) on Mova free.