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
-
The American flag is not a mere inanimate banner.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 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
-
Daniel, having fallen off the side of a mountain on a rock-climbing trip with Cherry, is in the hospital, unconscious and fighting for his life.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
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As Daniel lies unconscious and broken in a hospital bed, the doctors warn Laura and her husband, Howard (Waleed Zuaiter), that their son probably won’t make it.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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And when Sam cooks up a truly stupid scheme to make some quick cash, there’s little doubt a heavy like Mickey isn’t going to like it.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
12 Sep. 2025
-
There's a fine line between stupid and clever, indeed.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Sep. 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
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Memory, conveyed by an unperceptive, mechanically flowing camera, seems disconnected from culture.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 Nov. 2021
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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
-
Napier got a one-year honeymoon until a Week 1 loss at Utah in 2023, the year when the Gators committed a silly amount of dumb penalties (including the original instance of two guys wearing the same jersey).—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
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The reigning Super Bowl champs better hope that’s the dumbest thing that one of their players does this season.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
And depending on unwise machines to guide your decisions has already started to have some scary outcomes.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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For many years, Tariffs were allowed to be used against us by our uncaring and unwise Politicians.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
30 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insentient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insentient. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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