unfeeling

adjective

un·​feel·​ing ˌən-ˈfē-liŋ 

1

: devoid of feeling : insensate

an unfeeling corpse

2

: lacking kindness or sympathy : hard-hearted

an unfeeling brute

unfeelingly

ˌən-ˈfē-liŋ-lē 

adverb

unfeelingness noun

Synonyms

• affectless
• callous
• case-hardened
• cold-blooded
• compassionless
• desensitized
• hard
• hard-boiled
• hard-hearted
• heartless
• indurate
• inhuman
• inhumane
• insensate
• insensitive
• ironhearted
• merciless
• obdurate
• pachydermatous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• ruthless
• slash-and-burn
• soulless
• stony
• stoney
• stonyhearted
• take-no-prisoners
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• unmerciful
• unsparing
• unsympathetic

Examples of unfeeling in a Sentence

She says the most unfeeling things.

How can you be so cold and unfeeling?

Recent Examples on the Web

Tabo turns, in his mother’s eyes, into a cold and unfeeling stone. —Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2025

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, 22 Dec. 2024

The author renders the four-year-old Margaret’s inner life with sensitive complexity, depicting an alert child logic that defies adults’ view of her as slow and unfeeling. —The New Yorker, 12 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for unfeeling

• annealing
• appealing
• concealing
• congealing
• freewheeling
• repealing
• revealing
• ceiling
• dealing
• feeling
• healing
• heeling

Kids Definition

unfeeling

adjective

un·​feel·​ing ˌən-ˈfē-liŋ 

1

: lacking feeling : insensate

2

: lacking kindness or sympathy : hard-hearted, cruel

unfeelingly adverb

unfeelingness noun