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

Arsenal created more than enough to help themselves to a bunch of goals in Naples, only to get stuck in anti-ruthless mode.

— Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Authorities raided the building and found the entrance to a tunnel controlled by the ruthless Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

— Steve Fisher, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruthless

Adjective

On one Anderson sack late in the first quarter, Allen kicked his feet in agony and later revealed the hit made his left arm go numb.

— Tim Graham, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of numb

Adjective

More than 3,000 shows and a sizable cult following later, The Dark Room has evolved into a choose-your-own-adventure live action video game, presided over by Robertson as its obscene, merciless and incredibly quick-witted host.

— Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
In Braun’s script, the merciless obstacle course of singlehood seems just absurd.

— Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 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 a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Krishnamoorthi cited an NBC News investigation that identified 43 videos appearing to show individuals asleep in the driver’s seat of moving Teslas, including 17 posted this year alone.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 11 Sep. 2026
Like Harvey, Williams was asleep when she was awakened by a phone call from her husband, who was out of town.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of asleep

Adjective

The doc is similarly unflinching in showing the horrific scene from 1900 in which Donald Sutherland’s sadistic fascist murders a young boy in a shockingly callous way, while Laura Betti as his equal in cruelty dissolves into blood-curdling cackles.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 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