unresponsive

adjective

un·​re·​spon·​sive ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv 

: not responsive

The patient was unresponsive.

an infection unresponsive to antibiotics

an unresponsive bureaucracy

Although they are able to locate their own food at two weeks of age, fledgling robins will still piteously beg handouts from their increasingly unresponsive father.

—Millard H. Sharp

unresponsively adverb

staring unresponsively

unresponsiveness noun

Examples of unresponsive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The agency said he was declared dead last week, shortly after being found unconscious and unresponsive in his room. —Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026

The other detainee, Victor Manuel Diaz, was found unconscious and unresponsive in his room at Camp East Montana on January 14 by contract security staff who began life-saving measures, according to ICE. —Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 22 Jan. 2026

Police received a call early that morning reporting that a child was unresponsive. —Karen Morfitt, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026

He was found unresponsive on his couch by friends after missing a planned flight to Colorado. —Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unresponsive

• nonresponsive
• responsive

Medical Definition

unresponsive

adjective

un·​re·​spon·​sive ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv 

: not responsive (as to a stimulus or treatment)

an unresponsive ulcer

unresponsiveness noun