Definition of senselessnext
1
as in unconscious
having lost consciousness she collapsed, senseless, after hitting her head

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2
3
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily he may be a little absentminded, but he's really not as senseless as he seems

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4
5
as in inanimate
lacking animate awareness or sensation even the senseless sea seemed determined to swamp the storm-tossed ship

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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 senseless As a ruthless hitman (Javier Bardem) tries to track him down, the local sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to make sense of it all and faces an existential crisis about the senseless violence of the world today. Eric Farwell, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026 The boy’s family and county leaders are renewing their plea for witnesses to come forward, saying justice for a child lost to senseless street violence is long overdue. Seamus Bozeman follow, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026 The moves were senseless, short-sighted and emblematic of everything wrong with professional sports in this day and age. Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 19 May 2026 The ordeal was no longer a senseless drive to nowhere but a sensible one to nowhere. Weike Wang, New Yorker, 17 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for senseless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for senseless
Adjective
  • Importantly, this is happening at an unconscious level, meaning that women aren’t necessarily purposefully excluded at work.
    Melissa A. Wheeler, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • Officers found Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan unconscious.
    Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
Adjective
  • Both day-three draft picks in 2025, both battled injuries early in the season last year, and neither earned enough trust to see significant playing time until the meaningless season finale against the Giants.
    Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 July 2026
  • Despite his youth, Ward can’t escape the Netflix Quarterback Injury Curse and he gets knocked out of the last meaningless game of the season.
    Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Adjective
  • Some 17-year-olds are awkward, gangly teens who tend to do or say dumb things.
    Caleb Otte, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2026
  • Vance appears to be performing a smart person’s idea of a dumb person.
    David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
Adjective
  • Doing it for a guy who was closer to average last year and got outplayed by his backup is probably downright foolish.
    Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Johnson continued this week to push for his foolish and counterproductive desire to impose a $33-per-month tax on each Chicago job generated by the city’s largest private-sector employers.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026
Adjective
  • Then, in European culture, Christianity appeared, a religion which made an astonishing discovery, namely, that the primary cause for everything—humans, animals, nature, fertility, the inanimate world, the universe, the cosmos—could be concentrated into one single point.
    Merve Emre, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
  • As a result, the concept of animal rights was non-existent and people were free to treat animals like any other inanimate property.
    Rob Toews, Forbes.com, 22 June 2026
Adjective
  • Parametric modeling, especially when weighted down with decades of AutoCAD’s stupid UI/UX choices, was even harder than programming.
    Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 23 July 2026
  • The simplest explanation is that Vance believes his voters are stupid.
    David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
Adjective
  • This year’s list includes what may be America’s last remaining players with free 2020 eligibility (silly us, thinking that ended last year) — and even a few who began their careers in the 2010s.
    Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 24 July 2026
  • Depp engaged the crowd with silly skits for nearly half a hour.
    Angelique Jackson, Variety, 23 July 2026
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
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Senseless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/senseless. Accessed 29 Jul. 2026.

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