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as in unconscious
having lost consciousness if a choking person is insensible, you should lay them down on their back before performing the Heimlich maneuver

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as in insensate
lacking animate awareness or sensation even the canyon's insensible rocks seemed to mock the stranded climber's utter helplessness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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 insensible Also invited, for insensible reasons, is Neville’s first wife, Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland), blond to Kay’s brunette, for easy identification. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025 The ‘real’ Camille, meanwhile, has become an insensible, comatose carcass, although no one seems to notice. Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025 Foreman tumbled downward in a dizzy, slow-motion-like crash, full-weight, a helpless giant, insensible. Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2025 Or lobbyists can sometimes intervene and gain insensible exemptions from bans. IEEE Spectrum, 10 Feb. 2024 The novel positions him as insensible to agendas, hopelessly subject to the whims of the altruistic and the cruel. Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensible
Adjective
  • The women were strangled and rendered unconscious during the attack.
    Ryan Murphy, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Patients can be briefly roused—for example, to ask them to roll over or change a dressing—before falling unconscious again.
    RJ Mackenzie, Popular Science, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Although this is a common diagnosis, its symptoms can be invisible and interfere with everyday activities like dining out and shopping.
    Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2025
  • And in sport, where the thinnest of margins always matter, recognizing the invisible might be one of your most visible acts of leadership.
    Rick Burton, Sportico.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Faced with punishment from school administrators, Westman appeared alternately nervous and nonchalant, the former employee said.
    Tim Stelloh, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2025
  • This isn’t the first time Kravitz and her stylist, Danielle Goldberg, have embraced nonchalant suiting on her press tour.
    Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 26 Aug. 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
  • Gilliam is not contesting states' rights to ban profane, sexualized or vulgar plates.
    Angele Latham, The Tennessean, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Two Beal City high schoolers received thousands of vulgar text messages from an unknown sender for months.
    Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Any suggestion that this is some kind of victory for Combs is ignorant.
    KiMi Robinson, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025
  • In this case, the problem is ethics in the medical profession, as young doctor Andrew Manson (Robert Donat) moves from idealism to disillusionment and back again when faced with ignorant patients who are skeptical of his conclusions, economic hardship, and crooked colleagues.
    Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • These nearly imperceptible primordial magnetic fields, despite their weakness, would have played a key role in the universe’s development.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
  • That dynamic fidelity is all the more impressive for being almost imperceptible.
    Book Marks August 29, Literary Hub, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Perfect for long flights, city strolls, or casual dinners, the moisture-wicking fabric is stretchy, breathable, and even offers UPF 40+ sun protection.
    Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Keep it casual in sneakers, or wear it with suede ankle booties to the pumpkin patch.
    Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Insensible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensible. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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