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

An 81-year-old woman is dead and her two daughters are in custody on suspicion of murder and elder abuse after she was found unresponsive on the couch in their San Diego home, according to media reports. —Jazmin Alvarado, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026

Angelina Naomi Chicas, 17, was unresponsive in a Honda Civic after the crash in the 4300 block of North Sharon Amity Road, police said. —Diamy Wang, Charlotte Observer, 8 June 2026

There, investigators found 26-year-old Brittnee McMillon and 29-year-old Jerrell Westmoreland unresponsive in a vehicle in the apartment’s parking lot, according to a probable cause statement filed in support of Siffre’s arrest. —Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 8 June 2026

The woman was unresponsive and without a pulse. —Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 8 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