insensitively

adverb

as in callously

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 insensitively Residents were treated carelessly, disrespectfully, insensitively. — Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026 In this volatile environment, comments that appear to minimize or frame the shooting insensitively—like Matt Gutman's—can quickly become career-ending. — Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025 Sahroni has faced accusations of responding insensitively to people calling for parliament to be dissolved amid anger over lawmakers’ allowances. — CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensitively
  1. callously
  2. heartlessly
  3. ruthlessly
  4. mercilessly
  5. inhumanely
  6. pitilessly
  7. unmercifully
  8. harshly
Adverb
  • The biggest fear for people who want to see books preserved through the training process is that AI firms will callously pulp rare books that can never be replaced.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Conventional wisdom callously had it that audiences might never return, especially after the pandemic in 2020 was followed in short order in 2023 by two prolonged industrywide strikes.
    — Adam Aron, Variety, 29 July 2026
Definition of callously
Adverb
  • Victim Nyron Shaw’s father said the driver who mowed his son down last year in Ocean Hill a day before Independence Day should face the maximum penalty for allegedly driving twice the speed limit and heartlessly taking off, leaving his son to die.
    — Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2026
  • In the process, Joel heartlessly killed some innocent people, including medical professionals.
    — EW.com, EW.com, 26 Aug. 2025
Definition of heartlessly
Adverb
  • The first at Lord's was only 110 on Friday, and two days later England's all-seam attack was ruthlessly picking apart the top order again.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • That’s the conclusion Sunderland ruthlessly came to last summer.
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of ruthlessly
Adverb
  • This is no small feat in a city where working class locals are priced out mercilessly to make way for the ultra-wealthy here to work on their winter tans.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Despite her clear influence, Rico was mercilessly heckled by Carti fans during her performance at the Portland tour stop.
    — Mehan Jayasuriya, Pitchfork, 24 July 2026
Definition of mercilessly
Adverb
  • Walter’s ties to immigrant detention resulted in protests from members of the Los Angeles community, including many Dodgers fans, who felt that ICE inhumanely targeted them.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • In May 2025, the zoo posted a video of authorities taking a giraffe and accused them of seizing it inhumanely.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 22 June 2026
Definition of inhumanely
Adverb
  • The first hour, set at a resort that’s like a singles cruise through the Twilight Zone (or Bachelor in Paradise beamed in from a brutal alternate universe), contains some of the most pitilessly funny scenes of the filmmaker’s career.
    — A.A. Dowd, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025
Definition of pitilessly
Adverb
  • Any party member who seeks to defy his wishes risks losing a seat, being unmercifully gaslit, or trashed on Truth Social.
    — Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 22 May 2026
  • Now my son is dead after suffering unmercifully.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
Definition of unmercifully
Adverb
  • Yust also alleges prosecutorial misconduct, arguing that a prosecutor improperly urged jurors to sentence him more harshly because of the emotional impact of the trial on them.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
  • She was especially hurt that some of the people who criticized Cox most harshly, dismissing him as craven and disingenuous, were those who had the closest relationships with him.
    — McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of harshly

Browse Nearby Words

insensitive
insensitively
insensitiveness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Insensitively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensitively. Accessed 10 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of loath

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All