insensate

adjective

(ˌ)in-ˈsen-ˌsāt How to pronounce insensate (audio)
Definition of insensatenext
1
as in unconscious
lacking animate awareness or sensation the belief that God is immanent in all things, even insensate objects

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings an insensate boss who refuses to allow time off for funerals

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of insensate The brain, like other internal organs, is insensate, its lack of sensory receptors attested by videos of virtuoso violinists who play on unfazed as neurosurgeons go to work inside their skulls. — Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Sep. 2024 But states have used midazolam alone — and at much higher doses — in executions since 2013, claiming the drug will render people insensate to pain before the administration of other lethal injection drugs. — Lauren Gill, ProPublica, 29 Apr. 2023 Jerome Powell and his Federal Reserve colleagues are hardly insensate to the risk that their inflation-fighting actions might bring Mr. Trump back to power. — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 14 June 2022 Realigning themselves with sophomoric virtues, the stars sell their souls in accommodation to the insensate new era. — Armond White, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensate
  1. unconscious
  2. ruthless
  3. inanimate
  4. merciless
  5. unfeeling
  6. stony
  7. senseless
  8. callous
Adjective
  • According to local newspaper The Korea Times, Wheesung was discovered unconscious in his apartment in Seoul’s northern Gwangjin-gu district at 6:29 p.m.
    — Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025
  • The victim was unconscious and had bruises on his face and body when the couple dropped him at Downstate Medical Center in East Flatbush Saturday.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 10 Mar. 2025
Definition of unconscious
Adjective
  • But Harrison’s anti-expansionist successor, Grover Cleveland, abhorred the ruthless U.S. meddling in Hawaiian affairs.
    — Robert W. Merry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The film follows Bryan, a Korean American teenager who wants out of his ruthless gang the Goblins, setting the stage for gang retribution against him.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
Definition of ruthless
Adjective
  • That’s why horror movies often have these inanimate emblems that are so terrifying.
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2025
  • Celebrate by having a relaxing bath with your favorite inanimate waterfowl.
    — Rosalind Bowling, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
Definition of inanimate
Adjective
  • Back then, residents of the burgeoning Los Angeles area had no idea a merciless killer was lurking in their midst until Feb. 2, 1928, when the headless, naked body of a teenage boy was found in a ditch on a dusty road near the sleepy suburb of La Puente.
    — KC Baker, People.com, 15 Mar. 2025
  • The draft being held in Pittsburgh meant the Flyers were subject to merciless booing.
    — Joshua Kloke, The Athletic, 8 Mar. 2025
Definition of merciless
Adjective
  • So much modern football is mechanical and unfeeling; Joao Felix is loose and breezy.
    — Jack Lang, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025
  • Human failings amidst an unfeeling snowpocalypse make for some engaging scenes.
    — Ars Technica, Ars Technica, 22 Dec. 2024
Definition of unfeeling
Adjective
  • Sam Teicher, chief reef officer at Coral Vita, emphasized in an email interview that decades of degradation have wiped out at least 80% of the Bahamas' coral reefs, a crisis exacerbated by events like Hurricane Dorian and the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease.
    — Emese Maczko, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
  • There was some stony silence that seemed to annoy Trump.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025
Definition of stony
Adjective
  • Our staff, patrons, and this community are like family to us, and we are completely shaken by this senseless act of violence.
    — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2025
  • What should have been a welcome respite from the day-to-day pressures to move her body and clear her mind became a senseless tragedy that left her family in anguish and the Harford County and Baltimore-area community in shock.
    — Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 6 Mar. 2025
Definition of senseless
Adjective
  • But accusations of this decision being callous don’t resonate with Mason.
    — Marco della Cava, USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2025
  • The premise of The Message would appear to be even more callous: this ragtag trio roam the countryside with a little girl who can commune with animals, alive or dead.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 20 Feb. 2025
Definition of callous

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Cite this Entry

“Insensate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensate. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.

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