as in parochial
not broad or open in views or opinions
an insular community that is not receptive of new ideas, especially from outsiders
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insular
The trick will be getting the word out beyond these relatively insular groups, to a wider audience who won’t care that Black’s creative sphere friends are in the campaigns and collaborating on the clothes.
—
Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2025
These debates over rhetoric and tactics have been taking place in an insular cultural enclave where forum threads come to vivid life.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2025
The Insular Lumber Company was also an insular labor colony.
—JSTOR Daily, 19 Nov. 2025
Results showed that videos activated brain areas linked to reward and emotion (the middle frontal gyrus and nucleus accumbens), while sounds alone activated areas tied to emotion and body awareness (the insular cortex).
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for insular
Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2025
These debates over rhetoric and tactics have been taking place in an insular cultural enclave where forum threads come to vivid life.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2025
The Insular Lumber Company was also an insular labor colony.
—JSTOR Daily, 19 Nov. 2025
Results showed that videos activated brain areas linked to reward and emotion (the middle frontal gyrus and nucleus accumbens), while sounds alone activated areas tied to emotion and body awareness (the insular cortex).
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for insular
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insular
Adjective
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Could the trajectory of a presidency and a major political party, and perhaps modern American history itself, really trace back to a parochial dispute at a Palm Beach club at the start of this century?—
Tara Palmeri,
Vanity Fair,
12 Feb. 2026
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The maximalism and somewhat uncompromising presumption of a newspaper, with its warren of sections and columns and byways, is a quiet reproach to its audience’s most parochial instincts.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Caudle told The Associated Press in a recent interview that his vision is to deploy smaller, newer ships when possible instead of consistently turning to huge aircraft carriers.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
14 Feb. 2026
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The small edit stood out for its playful party spirit and the brand was instantly associated to a sense of fun and maximalism unusual in the Scandinavian fashion scene.—
Sandra Salibian,
Footwear News,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Here are some of the pettiest, most unimportant frustrations so far.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2026
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Forget all this childish behavior and just stop being so petty.—
Marcia Kramer,
CBS News,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Such a narrow margin means only a handful of disgruntled GOP members are needed to deal a defeat to their party leadership.—
Daniel C. Vock,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
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On that day, the moon will completely cover the sun for several minutes along a narrow path of totality that sweeps across Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insular.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insular. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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