senseless

adjective

ˈsen(t)s-ləs How to pronounce senseless (audio)
Definition of senselessnext
1
as in unconscious
having lost consciousness she collapsed, senseless, after hitting her head

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2
as in meaningless
having no meaning a pretty but senseless phrase

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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
as in foolish
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment a senseless decision to risk his life on a practical joke

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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
  1. unconscious
  2. meaningless
  3. dumb
  4. foolish
  5. inanimate
  6. stupid
  7. silly
  8. insensate
Adjective
  • Audio from an emergency medical services dispatch suggests that McConnell, 84, was reported unconscious at his Washington residence in June, prompting an advanced life support response.
    — Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 8 July 2026
  • McConnell was found unconscious the morning of June 14 and transported to a local hospital in an Advanced Life Support ambulance, according to Punchbowl News and the New York Post.
    — Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of unconscious
Adjective
  • One sure focus is the rampant grade inflation that exaggerates student achievement and has made graduating high school close to meaningless as an indicator of college preparedness.
    — U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2026
  • This distinction between meaningful and meaningless data evokes signal versus noise, a communication concept formulated by the mathematician Claude Shannon.
    — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of meaningless
Adjective
  • What used to be a forum for original, quirky, clever remarks by the Daily News’ varied community of smartypants has turned into a gridlock of repetitious venting of old, dumb blah.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 10 July 2026
  • How to make an iPhone a 'dumb phone' To simplify an iPhone, users should engage Assistive Access, an iOS feature intended for users with cognitive disabilities.
    — Greta Cross, USA Today, 7 July 2026
Definition of dumb
Adjective
  • 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
  • As is, this is a foolish thriller that prompts the occasional snicker but not much more.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 9 July 2026
Definition of foolish
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
Definition of inanimate
Adjective
  • Even when Romanzy goes off on how stupid and ugly Caleb is — and gossips that his parents abandoned him because something must be wrong with him — Mary goes along with it.
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 11 July 2026
  • Shockingly, the letter seems to be pushing for a return to standardized tests by, in effect, arguing that a growing percentage of their students are simply too stupid to succeed, no matter what professors do.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
Definition of stupid
Adjective
  • Sevigny holds firm to Tatum’s hard-to-love jerkishness, which helps smooth over the serious arguments that can turn inadvertently silly (and amplifies the purely silly ones).
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 July 2026
  • The post also included a sweet selfie with her two younger sons, with Mateo smiling widely and Ciro making a silly face for the camera.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026
Definition of silly
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
Definition of insensate

Browse Nearby Words

senseful
senseless
senselessly
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Cite this Entry

“Senseless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/senseless. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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