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

The Death & Life of Lamar Odom, directed Ryan Duffy and released last month, chronicles Odom’s 2015 scare when he was found unresponsive at the Love Ranch brothel located outside Las Vegas. —Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 15 Apr. 2026

Responders arrived to find the victim, a 71-year-old man, unresponsive near the elevators on the 15th floor. —Wcco Staff, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2026

Morais said police confirmed that the man was unresponsive. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 15 Apr. 2026

But Richard Kreitner said there is a certain logic behind secession movements, as governments from Washington to the statehouse are seen as increasingly unresponsive and dysfunctional. —Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 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