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 man was unconscious and unresponsive after hitting the ground, police said. —Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 23 June 2026

Co-sponsored by Mayor Mike Coffman and Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs, the initiative aims to create a citywide inventory of rental units to track repeat code violations and force accountability from unresponsive property owners. —Kelly Werthmann, CBS News, 22 June 2026

And when young people feel disconnected or believe systems are unresponsive to their daily experiences, that disconnection can deepen isolation and hopelessness. —Monica Gordon, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2026

Case files obtained by the Bay Area News Group through a California Public Records Act request reveal for the first time how warnings about Jaxon’s injuries were delayed, dismissed or left to his foster mother to resolve in the two days before he was found unresponsive. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 21 June 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