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 toddler was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in a residential pool in Harris County, Texas, on June 28, a person briefed on what happened told The Associated Press. — ABC News, 22 Aug. 2026

Deputies responded to a report of a toddler found unresponsive in a swimming pool on the 500 block of Lago Trace Drive, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said at the time. — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 22 Aug. 2026

He was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in the pool on June 28. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 22 Aug. 2026

The comment takes on a haunting resonance three months later, after Panettiere was found unresponsive on a Sunday. — Krystie Lee Yandoli, USA Today, 22 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