insulin resistance

noun

: reduced sensitivity to insulin by the body's insulin-dependent processes (such as glucose uptake and lipolysis) that is typical of type 2 diabetes but often occurs in the absence of diabetes

Examples of insulin resistance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

How Doctors Typically Screen for Insulin Resistance Most clinicians do not order a dedicated insulin resistance test on the first visit. —Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 4 June 2026

Clinicians use it as a practical screening tool to identify individuals who may benefit from further evaluation with more specific tests, such as fasting insulin, HOMA-IR or one of the dedicated insulin resistance panels offered by major labs. —Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 3 June 2026

Here is why insulin resistance is so tightly tied to PMOS — the condition previously known as PCOS — and what specialists recommend doing about it. —Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 June 2026

Large servings can raise blood sugar more significantly, especially for people with insulin resistance. —Kathleen Ferraro, Verywell Health, 20 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for insulin resistance

• magnetoresistance
• assistance
• consistence
• desistance
• existence
• insistence
• persistence
• subsistence
• coexistence
• nonexistence
• distance

Medical Definition

insulin resistance

noun

: reduced sensitivity to insulin by the body's insulin-dependent processes (as glucose uptake, lipolysis, and inhibition of glucose production by the liver) that results in decreased activity of these processes or an increase in insulin production or both and that is typical of type 2 diabetes but often occurs in the absence of diabetes