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

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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 But even as democratic governments have become more proficient and more technologically adept at thwarting terrorists, some in our societies have become insensitive, or even callous, about the civilizational consequences of terror and violence. — Anne Neuberger, The Atlantic, 3 July 2026 The insensitive promotion was swiftly canceled, leading to the CEO's dismissal, a public apology, and mandatory history training for 24,000 employees. — Roger Dooley, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 Even Hauser can’t rescue this culturally insensitive, stereotype-perpetuating nonsense. — Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 26 June 2026 Frankly, its terribly insensitive to hold a press conference while the man is dying. — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for insensitive

Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensitive

Adjective

Models are ruthless in their pursuit of a goal, sometimes taking disastrous shortcuts.

— Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026
Ticketing was a ruthless game of revenue maximization, and the final became a stage for Madonna and Justin Bieber.

— Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 21 July 2026

Definition of ruthless

Adjective

The red card was rescinded; the team was unmoored; conspiracies grew overnight, like mushrooms; and a merciless Belgium swept in and trampled, 4–1, on what remained.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Soon enough, Karl’s seemingly foolproof blackmail scheme devolves into a merciless, dog-eat-dog fight for survival, and the two men are locked in a cutthroat collision course, their fates now inextricably linked.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 15 July 2026

Definition of merciless

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

In that corner of the room, beside that window in the house in Stromness overlooking the small harbor, on a sofa upholstered in threadbare sailcloth, lay Paul, asleep.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 July 2026
If the seatbelt sign is on for turbulence or you’re stuck in the window seat and two people next to you are asleep.

— Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 22 July 2026

Definition of asleep

Adjective

The callous economist would say, Well, food prices are really not going up that much faster than anything else.

— David Frum, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026
Although humanity’s salvation may appear to come in fits and starts, God’s healing influence always penetrates and gets through callous self-righteousness and indifference.

— Mark Swinney, Christian Science Monitor, 21 July 2026

Definition of callous

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