emotionlessness

noun

as in impassivity
a lack of emotion or emotional expressiveness her seeming emotionlessness at her husband's funeral masked a grief that was beyond words

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for emotionlessness
  1. numbness
  2. apathy
  3. emptiness
  4. phlegm
  5. coldness
  6. detachment
  7. insensibility
Noun
  • The 53-year-old senator experienced numbness in his arm Saturday afternoon while at his son’s hockey game, according to Allison Herwitt, the senator’s chief of staff in a statement Sunday.
    — Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Other important symptoms of a stroke are a severe headache, confusion and numbness on one side of the body.
    — Diane Webber, NPR, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of numbness
Noun
  • And for a franchise built on passionate online debate from a vocal fandom, apathy is a death knell.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Their level of apathy and absenteeism will spell the difference between a good and a great night for Democrats.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of apathy
Noun
  • Carson’s account of desire helps explain why this creed leads to two kinds of emptiness.
    — Stacy Keltner, The Conversation, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Such stylish emptiness is daunting, and one doesn’t envy those who are now being encouraged to try it on for size.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of emptiness
Noun
  • Symptoms can include shortness of breath and coughing or blood in the phlegm.
    — Erika Edwards, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Any confusion, difficulty walking, shortness of breath or coughing up significant phlegm should prompt an immediate descent.
    — Elaine Reno, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of phlegm
Noun
  • The house was a metaphor for the coldness of a relationship that’s faded and atrophied.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The danger occurs if that ruthlessness veers into institutional coldness.
    — James McNicholas, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of coldness
Noun
  • In our conversations, Zvyagintsev maintained a certain detachment from the controversy.
    — Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Although the process currently operates only at a lab scale, understanding the mechanics of direct silver detachment could provide a practical solution for green industrial recycling.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of detachment
Noun
  • The famous Lord Chesterfield[5] counselled his son that he should never be seen to laugh; and that gravity with real or apparent insensibility is a universal characteristic of the savage.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
Definition of insensibility
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

emotionless
emotionlessness
emotions
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Emotionlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emotionlessness. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of valorous

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All