INSENSATE Synonyms: 132 Similar and Opposite Words

insensate

adjective

(ˌ)in-ˈsen-ˌsāt

Definition of insensate

as in unconscious

lacking animate awareness or sensation the belief that God is immanent in all things, even insensate objects

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings an insensate boss who refuses to allow time off for funerals

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 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 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

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud argued that speech errors could reveal hidden wishes or unconscious thoughts.

— Karen Stollznow, The Conversation, 14 July 2026
José Guadalupe Ramos Solano José Guadalupe Ramos Solano, 36, died on March 25, 2026, after being found unconscious at the Adelanto Detention Center, California.

— Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, CNN Money, 14 July 2026

Definition of unconscious

Adjective

Neill was magnetic as the ruthless CI Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders—an antagonist and romantic rival of Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 15 July 2026
Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, who has a tournament-high five assists, were also kept quiet by the ruthless Spaniards.

— Mark Hodge, NBC news, 15 July 2026

Definition of ruthless

Adjective

Then, in European culture, Christianity appeared, a religion which made an astonishing discovery, namely, that the primary cause for everything—humans, animals, nature, fertility, the inanimate world, the universe, the cosmos—could be concentrated into one single point.

— Merve Emre, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
As a result, the concept of animal rights was non-existent and people were free to treat animals like any other inanimate property.

— Rob Toews, Forbes.com, 22 June 2026

Definition of inanimate

Adjective

The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.

— Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

Definition of merciless

Adjective

Readers can judge Jane and me, deciding that one of us was unfeeling or uncomprehending.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
As Micah so nicely puts it, there’s a narrative magnetism to Pitman’s repo encounters, many of which play out as micro-dramas of people in crisis confronting an embodied messenger of the great, unfeeling, deeply unfair American financial system.

— Austin Elias-de Jesus, New Yorker, 22 June 2026

Definition of unfeeling

Adjective

Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.

— Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.

— Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026

Definition of stony

Adjective

Ten years after losing her father to a senseless tragedy, bride Jeni Stepien walked toward her future husband, Paul Maenner, on the arm of the one man who could testify that her father’s heart was still beating.

— Staff, FOXNews.com, 20 June 2026
Despite a ticking clock that seemingly guarantees the girl’s senseless death will be discarded as a cold case, Noelle is determined to uncover the truth.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 19 June 2026

Definition of senseless

Adjective

Trump’s proponents may argue these definitions are ageing, and precedents have been set in recent years that leave the battlefield a wholly more callous place.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
These structures were regionally and culturally inspired, and largely destroyed during rapid and callous colonization.

— Elizabeth Fazzare, Architectural Digest, 4 July 2026

Definition of callous

Browse Nearby Words

insemination

insensate

insensately

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Insensate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensate. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of insensate

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

quid pro quo

Popular in Grammar & Usage

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

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17

Popular

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

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Games & Quizzes