1
as in unconscious
lacking animate awareness or sensation
the belief that God is immanent in all things, even insensate objects
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
an insensate boss who refuses to allow time off for funerals
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Recent Examples of insensate
The brain, like other internal organs, is insensate, its lack of sensory receptors attested by videos of virtuoso violinists who play on unfazed as neurosurgeons go to work inside their skulls.
—
Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Sep. 2024
But states have used midazolam alone — and at much higher doses — in executions since 2013, claiming the drug will render people insensate to pain before the administration of other lethal injection drugs.
—Lauren Gill, ProPublica, 29 Apr. 2023
Jerome Powell and his Federal Reserve colleagues are hardly insensate to the risk that their inflation-fighting actions might bring Mr. Trump back to power.
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 14 June 2022
Realigning themselves with sophomoric virtues, the stars sell their souls in accommodation to the insensate new era.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020
Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Sep. 2024
But states have used midazolam alone — and at much higher doses — in executions since 2013, claiming the drug will render people insensate to pain before the administration of other lethal injection drugs.
—Lauren Gill, ProPublica, 29 Apr. 2023
Jerome Powell and his Federal Reserve colleagues are hardly insensate to the risk that their inflation-fighting actions might bring Mr. Trump back to power.
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 14 June 2022
Realigning themselves with sophomoric virtues, the stars sell their souls in accommodation to the insensate new era.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensate
Adjective
-
The unconscious Moon moves through your 9th House of Distance, opposing undisciplined Uranus in your conversation zone.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Implicit learning involves learning an unconscious habit or skill such as riding a bike.—
Akshay Syal,
NBC news,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Figure skating is ruthless that way.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss (Bening), Lucky must fight for her life — and a way out.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Even Lander Lil, an inanimate bronze statue of a prairie dog located in Wyoming tasked by locals with a similar weather-prediction role, has a higher prediction rate than Phil, with 75% accuracy.—
Chris Barilla,
PEOPLE,
2 Feb. 2026
-
The building would undergo a restoration, in 2017, but in that intervening period the inanimate structure seemed actually dead.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Murphy is not acting alone, however, as he’s been assigned to the journey out of a labor camp run by a merciless, tobacco-spitting boss (Russell Crowe) — and some in his merriless band turn out to be savvier, and more malicious, than others.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
29 Jan. 2026
-
But the Warriors, driven by the merciless ticking clock of Curry’s career, are desperate.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The greatest accusation levied against her is the crime of being an unfeeling mother.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
11 Aug. 2025
-
Then, the men had to walk around as these unfeeling, aggressive, hyper-masculine creatures.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
28 May 2025
Adjective
-
Across this stony landscape, light sometimes falls.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Forgotten animal pens, decaying cages and stony backdrops now sit in various states of abandonment.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Cronin chided Bilodeau for those senseless fouls, but directed his frustration at the officials for the next few calls.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
8 Feb. 2026
-
She was taken from us in a violent and senseless way, and our family has been permanently changed.—
Doug Lantz,
ABC News,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But German timidity before Israel’s moral blackmail only partly explains Habermas’s callous attitude toward the country’s Palestinian victims.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
As the only female taxi driver working her corner of Nigeria’s heaving metropolis, Lady is accustomed to underestimation by a callous patriarchy, and staunchly resists the gender normatives implied by her name.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insensate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensate. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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