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

Asaiah Gerome Washington, 40, had been at the jail about a month in July 2024 when he and his cellmate were found unresponsive in their cell. —Theresa Clift may 29, Sacbee.com, 29 May 2026

At the scene, first responders found a man unresponsive on the ground. —Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 28 May 2026

Unconscious and unresponsive, he was taken to Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville and later pronounced dead. —Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026

Preliminary findings indicated that Hubbs became unresponsive after colliding with Klein, with witnesses reporting that his head and arms appeared to go limp following the impact. —Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 26 May 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