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

Less than two weeks later, ICE reported that Victor Manuel Díaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan who had been detained during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, was found unresponsive and with a piece of fabric around his neck. — Perla Trevizo, ProPublica, 28 Aug. 2026

Tiffani Huff Holmes, 42, surrendered to the Polk County Jail in December after her son was found unresponsive in the garage of their Bondurant home last June. — Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 28 Aug. 2026

Pennsylvania State Police said troopers were called to the state correctional institution in Findley Township the morning of June 21 after 28-year-old Donald Stinedurf reported that his cellmate, 32-year-old Joshua Tisak, was unresponsive. — Madeline Bartos, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026

Correctional staff at York Correctional Institute in Niantic found an incarcerated woman unresponsive in her cell on Wednesday morning, according to the Connecticut Department of Correction. — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 Aug. 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