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

On May 23, 2010, Sharon found her son-in-law unresponsive in the home. —Hannah Chubb, PEOPLE, 20 Dec. 2025

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2021, but only served a few weeks of his sentence before he was found unresponsive in his Juneau prison cell. —Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 20 Dec. 2025

Bell was found pinned between two cars and unresponsive. —Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 19 Dec. 2025

Nenko Stanev Gantchev, 56, was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell Sunday evening in the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, ICE said. —Paula Wethington, CBS News, 19 Dec. 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