1
as in inanimate
lacking animate awareness or sensation
refused to believe that the universe as we know it evolved from the random interactions of insentient particles of matter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imperceptive
not having or showing a deep understanding of something
an insentient therapist who failed to see what the teenager's real problem was
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insentient
This is partly because the loss of insentient machinery, no matter how expensive, is easier to stomach than the death of an aircrew.
—
Lauren Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2023
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
Genes are insentient things and cannot be said to have any kind of purposeful selfish or unselfish behavior.
—Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2017
Lauren Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2023
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
Genes are insentient things and cannot be said to have any kind of purposeful selfish or unselfish behavior.
—Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insentient
Adjective
-
Thin bony fingers as inanimate as dry cigarette papers.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
16 July 2025
-
Partners View all partners Tropical reefs might look like inanimate rock, but these colorful seascapes are built by tiny jellyfish-like animals called corals.—
Noam Vogt-Vincent,
The Conversation,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
The child, who was unconscious, received life-saving measures at the scene and was taken to Griffin Hospital before being transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital, according to DEEP.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
19 July 2025
-
One of the individuals rescued was a 10-year-old boy, who was unconscious and admitted to a nearby hospital with several injuries, per VNExpress.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
People.com,
19 July 2025
Adjective
-
And some stupid Republicans, and foolish Republicans, fall into the net.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 July 2025
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The film ends with Lady Susan setting herself up in a kind of throuple, although one member of the ménage is too stupid to be so informed.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
19 July 2025
Adjective
-
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
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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
Adjective
-
He could not be seen, just as the little black boy was not seen, or was seen inaccurately, by the unperceptive and disdainful white boy.—
Louise Glück,
The New York Review of Books,
14 Jan. 2021
-
Memory, conveyed by an unperceptive, mechanically flowing camera, seems disconnected from culture.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 Nov. 2021
Adjective
-
Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.—
Daniel Jackson,
Allure,
18 July 2017
-
Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.—
Andy Benoit,
The MMQB,
10 July 2017
Adjective
-
Becoming less user-friendly seems unwise at this point in human history.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
-
As such, the notion of the Lakers committing to James at a max-salary level beyond this season was clearly seen internally as unwise.—
Sam Amick,
New York Times,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
This perky, self-aware, sarcastic and downright silly show caters to both the more traditional Goodspeed audiences.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
14 July 2025
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Green Lantern is earnest and bright and, yeah, incredibly silly and a little embarrassing.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insentient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insentient. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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