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
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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
-
Many people backed his daughter because there was a dog outside in a way, while others acknowledge how creepy that inanimate face could be to a child.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Thin bony fingers as inanimate as dry cigarette papers.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
16 July 2025
Adjective
-
Echoing the decade's sleek silhouettes, Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell wound their manes into taut high ponytails that emphasized their chiseled features; the former securing hers with scrunchie, and the latter wrapping a section around the elastic to imperceptive effect.—
Lauren Valenti,
Vogue,
19 Aug. 2021
Adjective
-
That was when the seizure occurred, making her fall unconscious.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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Upon arriving at her unit, officers found her unconscious and unresponsive; EMS officials responded to the scene and found the actress dead.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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When smart algorithms do stupid things But scratch beneath the surface, and the cracks start showing.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
8 Oct. 2025
-
America has funded the Ukrainian government, Ukrainian pensions, and Ukrainian businesses during this entire stupid war that America should have nothing to do with.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Memory, conveyed by an unperceptive, mechanically flowing camera, seems disconnected from culture.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 Nov. 2021
-
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
Adjective
-
There was also, perhaps, general irritation at the idea that such a successful team should be the recipient of so much dumb luck.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Many students have acted boldly, and occasionally made dumb mistakes, because they were outraged by historical wrongs, incendiary speakers, cultural stereotypes, or other provocations.—
Christopher L. Eisgruber,
Time,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Letang will turn 39 later this season, and Karlsson isn’t far behind at 35, so expecting any kind of a renaissance here feels unwise.—
Harman Dayal,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The emirate has funded its governance in Gaza (at times at Netanyahu’s unwise request) and hosted its leaders in exile for years.—
Dan Perry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insentient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insentient. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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