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

Davis was found unresponsive in his home gym, according to the autopsy report released Friday. —Victoria Ballard, Sun Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2025

Police responded to the building in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road around 3:30 p.m. and found Marchbanks and Pennington unresponsive in a car with multiple gunshot wounds. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2025

The local ski patrol brought the unresponsive teen to a clinic at the base of a mountain. —Sam Gillette, People.com, 11 Apr. 2025

First responders found the motorcyclist unresponsive at the scene, Metro Fire said. —Sacbee.com, 7 Apr. 2025

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