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
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Recent Examples of inanimate
The fabric maven muses about how inanimate things receive memories.
—
Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 16 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
Disinfect Surfaces Cold-causing viruses can survive on inanimate surface areas for hours.
—Christopher Bergland, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2026
Songbirds bond for seasons, octopuses defend their mates, and children shower their affection on inanimate plushies.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 16 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
Disinfect Surfaces Cold-causing viruses can survive on inanimate surface areas for hours.
—Christopher Bergland, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2026
Songbirds bond for seasons, octopuses defend their mates, and children shower their affection on inanimate plushies.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inanimate
Adjective
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Known as the godfather of public relations, Bernays explained how the unconscious element of people in democratic societies could be manipulated.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Apr. 2026
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Nearly two decades after Ratliff died, Peterson found his wife, Kathleen, unconscious at the bottom of the stairs.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
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One says, God can always see you with his unfeeling precision.—
Sandra Lim,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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As the actor tells Glamour, most were written according to stereotypes and portrayed as cold, unfeeling, aggressive, or robotic.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
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The selection opens with Taiwanese work Welcome to the Dollhouse about YouTuber Princess Maria who sets out to uncover the secrets of Madame Dolly, a sorceress who can turn lifeless dolls into human beings.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
28 Apr. 2026
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Several days later, the commercial watermen reportedly found Oliver’s lifeless body off the coast of Delaware.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inanimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inanimate. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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