as in unconscious
lacking animate awareness or sensation
"pathetic fallacy" is the literary term for the ascription of human feelings or motives to inanimate natural elements
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of inanimate
Wait until these powers are in the hands of an inanimate AI programmed to disfavor or even target conservatives through the vast powers of the federal government.
—
Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025
Wait until these powers are in the hands of an inanimate AI programmed to disfavor or even target conservatives through the vast powers of the federal government.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025
That’s why horror movies often have these inanimate emblems that are so terrifying.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2025
The delightful Oscar-winning visual effects combine techniques like the sodium vapor process and wirework to give life to Eglantine’s psychedelic flying bed and other inanimate-no-longer objects.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025
Wait until these powers are in the hands of an inanimate AI programmed to disfavor or even target conservatives through the vast powers of the federal government.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025
That’s why horror movies often have these inanimate emblems that are so terrifying.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2025
The delightful Oscar-winning visual effects combine techniques like the sodium vapor process and wirework to give life to Eglantine’s psychedelic flying bed and other inanimate-no-longer objects.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inanimate
Adjective
-
In some cases, AI feedback forced Martinez to reflect on how unconscious bias may have shaped his original assessment.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
8 July 2025
-
Used responsibly, these systems can offer clearer benchmarks and reduce unconscious bias.—
Andrew Fennell,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
Adjective
-
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
Adjective
-
Then, the men had to walk around as these unfeeling, aggressive, hyper-masculine creatures.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
28 May 2025
-
Tabo turns, in his mother’s eyes, into a cold and unfeeling stone.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
This is partly because the loss of insentient machinery, no matter how expensive, is easier to stomach than the death of an aircrew.—
Lauren Kahn,
Foreign Affairs,
6 June 2023
-
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.—
Houman Barekat,
New York Times,
29 Mar. 2023
Adjective
-
Their bodies were found lifeless June 2 with plastic bags over their heads and evidence that their hands had been zip-tied near their father's truck in a campground.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
26 June 2025
-
The following morning, the family discovered the lifeless body of the fourth kitten.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inanimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inanimate. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share