1
as in inanimate
lacking animate awareness or sensation
refused to believe that the universe as we know it evolved from the random interactions of insentient particles of matter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imperceptive
not having or showing a deep understanding of something
an insentient therapist who failed to see what the teenager's real problem was
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insentient
This is partly because the loss of insentient machinery, no matter how expensive, is easier to stomach than the death of an aircrew.
—
Lauren Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2023
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
Genes are insentient things and cannot be said to have any kind of purposeful selfish or unselfish behavior.
—Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2017
Lauren Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2023
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
Genes are insentient things and cannot be said to have any kind of purposeful selfish or unselfish behavior.
—Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insentient
Adjective
-
Of these performances, its is the most inanimate and yet evocative.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
6 June 2025
-
Thin bony fingers as inanimate as dry cigarette papers.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Yonah described how the girls were floating unconscious in the water, their life jackets keeping them afloat, as their father—who does not know how to swim—scraped up his hands, feet and back trying to save them.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
14 Aug. 2025
-
But before everything hits the fan, Nate is found unconscious, and suspicion is growing around who has committed this crime.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Parents,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Jess: The curds themselves are crispy, but the toast is stupid.—
Jess Fleming,
Twin Cities,
22 Aug. 2025
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The dialogue wasn’t dumbed down and stupid comic book stuff.—
William Earl,
Variety,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
-
He could not be seen, just as the little black boy was not seen, or was seen inaccurately, by the unperceptive and disdainful white boy.—
Louise Glück,
The New York Review of Books,
14 Jan. 2021
-
Memory, conveyed by an unperceptive, mechanically flowing camera, seems disconnected from culture.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 Nov. 2021
Adjective
-
Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.—
Daniel Jackson,
Allure,
18 July 2017
-
Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.—
Andy Benoit,
The MMQB,
10 July 2017
Adjective
-
An unwise subject replied in terms of moral absolutes—No way!—
Meghan O’Gieblyn,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
-
Their wide receiver corps isn’t going to scare many teams and likely needs reinforcements next offseason, but giving a 30-year-old receiver like McLaurin $30 million a year seems unwise even with plenty of cap space to burn.—
Chad Graff,
New York Times,
19 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Alcaraz and Sinner are early enough in their careers that debates around their legacies feel silly.—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
20 Aug. 2025
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Evans described Steve as goofy, silly, and full of charm, with a love for food and people alike.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insentient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insentient. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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