Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "automatic pilot" []

  • A navigation mechanism, as on an aircraft, that automatically maintains a preset course. Also called robot pilot. (noun)
  • A state of mind in which one acts without deliberate effort or self-awareness: "men who are, sexually speaking, on automatic pilot” ( Gloria Steinem). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "automatic pilot" in a sentence
  • "However, in later wealth stages, when you are trying to find a less management-intensive investment alternative, you can afford to give up some control for a little automatic pilot pleasure."
  • "This was an automatic pilot in the form of an unwinding, perforated tape which ran through an electric brain."
Words like "automatic pilot"