Synonyms of insensate

insensate

adjective

(ˌ)in-ˈsen-ˌsāt 

1

as in unconscious

lacking animate awareness or sensation

the belief that God is immanent in all things, even insensate objects

Synonyms & Similar Words

• unconscious
• inanimate
• unfeeling
• senseless
• insensible
• insentient
• lifeless
• comatose
• exanimate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• feeling
• sensitive
• sensible
• conscious
• aware
• sensate
• sentient
• cognizant
• animate
• lively
• vibrant
• animated

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ruthless
• merciless
• stony
• callous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• unfeeling
• insensitive
• hard
• inhuman
• obdurate
• oppressive
• soulless
• compassionless
• hateful
• heartless
• abusive
• indurate
• cruel
• malicious
• unmerciful
• vicious
• stern
• inhumane
• brutal
• hard-hearted
• unsympathetic
• harsh
• desensitized
• grim
• affectless
• uncharitable
• cold-blooded
• unsparing
• thick-skinned
• slash-and-burn
• severe
• tough
• savage
• unthinking
• take-no-prisoners
• thoughtless
• case-hardened
• pachydermatous
• hard-boiled
• heedless
• uncaring
• inconsiderate
• mean
• boorish
• ungentle
• ironhearted
• unfriendly
• rough
• malevolent
• spiteful
• stonyhearted
• jackbooted
• unloving
• disagreeable
• virulent
• barbarous
• cold
• brutish
• rancorous
• bestial
• surly
• ill-natured
• ironfisted
• sledgehammer
• acrimonious
• evil-minded
• rough-and-tumble
• heavy-handed
• austere
• hard-bitten
• ill-tempered
• ironhanded
• frosty
• knock-down, drag-out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sympathetic
• sensitive
• warm
• humane
• charitable
• compassionate
• merciful
• benevolent
• gentle
• kind
• mild
• kindly
• tender
• indulgent
• lenient
• kindhearted
• friendly
• benignant
• softhearted
• tenderhearted
• gracious
• cordial
• warmhearted
• tolerant
• affectionate
• loving
• understanding
• good-natured
• clement
• fond
• good-tempered

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of insensate

Police began showing up, flummoxed in the face of an irate attorney, indifferent third-party technicians, and insensate machines. — Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

This insensate gaze is one that cannot be returned, as Jacques Lacan observed of the camera pointed at him during his performative lecture Télévision, recorded in 1973 and broadcast on prime-time TV in France. — Jan Tumlir, Artforum, 5 Aug. 2026

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