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

Jack Burnell-Williams, who served in the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and walked with the late monarch’s coffin during her funeral in September 2022, was found unresponsive shortly after at army barracks in London and was pronounced dead. —Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 11 Jan. 2026

The Los Angeles County Fire personnel responded to a call about an unresponsive male at Carter's house and pronounced him dead on the scene. —Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Jan. 2026

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived at the actor’s Duarte home Friday evening after receiving a call about an unresponsive male, the Associated Press reported. —Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2026

The 5-year-old girl had been found unresponsive in a fourth-floor bedroom by firefighters. —Riley Rourke, CBS News, 10 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