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 front seat passenger, identified as 25-year-old Felix Vasquez of Hartford, was unresponsive on the scene and was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, Boisvert said. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 22 May 2025

During the ambulance ride, Daniel stopped breathing and became unresponsive, the department said. —Greta Cross, USA Today, 20 May 2025

However, emergency medical personnel arrived to find the boy unresponsive in the garage, authorities said. —Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 20 May 2025

Per radio traffic reviewed by CBS News, concerns for the plane were first made at around 10:01 a.m., when the pilot was unresponsive after failing to turn once alerted of another aircraft. —Raven Brunner, People.com, 18 May 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