INSENSITIVE Synonyms: 136 Similar and Opposite Words

insensitive

adjective

(ˌ)in-ˈsen(t)-s(ə-)tiv

Definition of insensitive

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings an insensitive remark about his deceased wife that was incredibly rude

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in numb

lacking in sensation or feeling fingers rendered insensitive by the cold

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 insensitive So have other terms considered insensitive, such as master/slave and blackhat/whitehat. — Jo MacKiewicz, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026 Watts was also hindering the healing process by being insensitive and self-centered, friends say. — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026 Many assumed that Ramée was white, and believed that his comment was not only cringe but also insensitive. — Owen Carry, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 The filing alleged Flores deceptively edited the recordings to hide his own insensitive remarks and suggested he was motivated by a desire to win a large legal settlement in court. — Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for insensitive

Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensitive

Adjective

He was always destined to follow in the footsteps of another tyrannical, ruthless Don – Michael Corleone.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
Ink finds the Sinners star playing ruthless tabloid editor Larry Lamb in Boyle’s retelling of what happened when Rupert Murdoch acquired struggling British newspaper The Sun.

— Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruthless

Adjective

When the old man dies, her numb reaction appears caught between grief and relief, though her two adult sons show little understanding of her emotional state.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 30 Aug. 2026
Be sure to start below the injury and wrap upward, overlapping each layer but never so tightly that fingers or toes become numb or painful.

— Dr. Jill Grimes, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of numb

Adjective

When Bill’s older brother Henry (Barry Ward) finds the pianist in numbed solitude in his dingy apartment, Bill has canceled all his upcoming gigs, saying Scotty cannot be replaced.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026
Ingber also notes the numbed response to these strikes from much of the American public, something that, in part, may come from the routine nature of these drone strikes as something that the nation has become desensitized to dropping bombs on enemies.

— Rebecca Schneid, Time, 21 Oct. 2025

Definition of numbed

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

Since staterooms are clustered closely together, keeping voices down in hallways—especially late at night—shows consideration for neighbors who may already be asleep.

— Jill Schildhouse, Southern Living, 29 Aug. 2026
Video appears to show the operator asleep moments before the collision.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of asleep

Adjective

Rather than heroic, these costly and horribly uncertain stunts come across callous and cruel.

— Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
Just not as much as the callous bosses who created this indefensible, toxic situation and the fanatics who once cheered it.

— Candace Buckner, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of callous

Adjective

Civilizations could have risen to their zenith and crumbled in the time our micrometeoroid spent traversing the unfeeling expanse of interplanetary space, but its demise lasted but a fraction of a second.

— Anthony Wood, Space.com, 21 July 2026
Readers can judge Jane and me, deciding that one of us was unfeeling or uncomprehending.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026