How to Use autonomic in a Sentence

autonomic

adjective
  • The brain’s function is autonomic so there is nothing to assemble here.
    — Mike Oliver | [email protected], al, 10 Aug. 2019
  • This response was almost autonomic; like watching the leg of a dead frog kick when an electric current runs through its corpse.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 2 Sep. 2022
  • The nerves of the autonomic nervous systems can be severely damaged.
    — Markham Heid, Time, 4 Nov. 2022
  • Sensory nerves and the autonomic nervous system are usually spared so that most with the disease can hear, see, touch, smell and taste.
    — Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 29 May 2017
  • In these cases, the primitive part of our brain designed to protect us in the wild kicks in and our autonomic response is to recklessly fire back.
    — Josh Linkner, Detroit Free Press, 31 July 2019
  • In medical speak, cluster headaches are a type of trigeminal autonomic cephalgia.
    — Zahra Barnes, SELF, 17 Dec. 2017
  • The coronavirus may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, causing autonomic changes such as shortness of breath, sweating and rapid heart rate, researchers said.
    — Julie Washington, cleveland, 30 Mar. 2021
  • The autonomic connection makes sense, because our hearts are under its jurisdiction.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2019
  • The same study notes that the hormonal cascade may even dull pain by activating peripheral nerves and autonomic pathways.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The Republican Party is shot through now with an impulse to disunion that is almost an autonomic reflex at this point.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 24 Aug. 2012
  • Does the magic happen through autonomic stress reduction, having a place to meet people and get active, or just by seeing something beautiful every day?
    — Aaron Reuben, Outside Online, 11 June 2019
  • Other studies since then have demonstrated that just looking at pictures of natural scenes can change the way a person’s autonomic nervous system responds to stress.
    — Richard Taylor, Smithsonian, 31 Mar. 2017
  • Researchers are investigating how these types of autonomic nervous-system responses can be measured and used to create smart hearing aids.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Many people are familiar with the numbness and pain of the feet and sometimes hands that can happen with longstanding diabetes, but the autonomic system can be affected as well.
    — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 9 May 2022
  • The singer did not reveal details of her latest health issues, but Knowles in 2017 did open up about dealing with an autonomic disorder.
    — Chloe Melas, CNN, 3 Mar. 2021
  • BChE is an enzyme of the cholinergic system, part of the autonomic system, which controls functions like blood pressure and breathing.
    — Katherine Dillinger and Jen Christensen, CNN, 13 May 2022
  • The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary functions of your body, like your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and digestion.
    — Kira Peikoff, Cosmopolitan, 9 Jan. 2015
  • The autonomic nervous system jump-starts the sympathetic nervous system and accelerates the fight-or-flight response.
    — Marygrace Taylor, SELF, 18 July 2017
  • Training specifically for the unique autonomic signature of being the overwhelming favorite on the world’s biggest stage is far harder — and far rarer.
    — Amy Cuddy, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Thompson announced in May 2019 he had been diagnosed with an autonomic nerve disorder.
    — Steve Megargee, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Jan. 2021
  • All of these neurological changes impact the whole body, including our autonomic, metabolic and immune systems.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 23 June 2022
  • Studies on autonomic balance show that leaders who regulate their internal rhythm make clearer decisions and sustain performance longer.
    — Tony Loyd, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
  • Each has a spinal cord, which controls reflex behaviors; a brain stem, which controls autonomic behaviors such as breathing and heart rate; and a midbrain, which controls emotions and basic behaviors.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 2 June 2017
  • Doctors proposed the man must have possessed unusual electrical connections in his heart, along with some kind of autonomic nervous disturbance related to his quadriplegia.
    — Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023
  • The feel of slime even elicits autonomic psychophysiological effects (which are subconscious changes in the body related to the person’s emotional state).
    — Coren Walters-Stewart, Discover Magazine, 18 Oct. 2022
  • In one, a region called the hypothalamus, the information informs the body’s autonomic thermal responses.
    — Nick Stockton, WIRED, 3 Aug. 2015
  • Others are dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and pure autonomic failure.
    — The Conversation, oregonlive, 29 May 2023
  • Preliminary observations were yielding more data to support the theories about the role that breathing issues and autonomic dysfunction played for some patients.
    — Meghan O'Rourke, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2021
  • His cause of death was cardiac arrest and acute myocardial infarction, with coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease with autonomic dysfunction listed as joint causes.
    — Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 7 Apr. 2026
  • There was the matter, too, of financial conflicts and nepotism, an autonomic reflex of aspiring authoritarians.
    — Amy Davidson, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autonomic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: