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 person who called told dispatchers a child fell and was unresponsive, but dispatchers weren’t able to get back in touch with the caller when the call failed, police said. —Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 14 Aug. 2025

Officers responding to the shooting at about 10:45 p.m. Aug. 10 found the teen unresponsive with a gunshot wound, the Phoenix Police Department said in a news release. —Helena Wegner, Sacbee.com, 14 Aug. 2025

The son, who also lived at the residence, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound, police said. —Harry Harris, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025

Jeremiah Ricci was found unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound and was later pronounced dead. —Helen Rummel, AZCentral.com, 13 Aug. 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