1
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
gave the homeless people on the street only an unfeeling glance
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in numb
lacking in sensation or feeling
her heart was as cold and hard as the unfeeling marble statue in her garden
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in inanimate
lacking animate awareness or sensation
she spoke politely even to the unfeeling virtual assistant on her phone
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 unfeeling
So much modern football is mechanical and unfeeling; Joao Felix is loose and breezy.
—
Jack Lang, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025
Human failings amidst an unfeeling snowpocalypse make for some engaging scenes.
—Ars Technica, 22 Dec. 2024
The author renders the four-year-old Margaret’s inner life with sensitive complexity, depicting an alert child logic that defies adults’ view of her as slow and unfeeling.
—The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
The adversarial shapes work on humans, too—wearing thimbles to emulate the cold unfeeling steel of a robot and using two fingers in a pinching grasp, the researchers were able to verify that the objects were hard to pick up.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 July 2019
See All Example Sentences for unfeeling
Jack Lang, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025
Human failings amidst an unfeeling snowpocalypse make for some engaging scenes.
—Ars Technica, 22 Dec. 2024
The author renders the four-year-old Margaret’s inner life with sensitive complexity, depicting an alert child logic that defies adults’ view of her as slow and unfeeling.
—The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
The adversarial shapes work on humans, too—wearing thimbles to emulate the cold unfeeling steel of a robot and using two fingers in a pinching grasp, the researchers were able to verify that the objects were hard to pick up.
—IEEE Spectrum, 9 July 2019
See All Example Sentences for unfeeling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfeeling
Adjective
-
There’s also just one overwhelming evil force in this play — the Nazis — whereas Dumas had his musketeers fighting not just ruthless government officials but royalty, religious leaders and nobles.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
-
With a lesser interpreter in the role, Eva might have read more reductively as just a ruthless bureaucratic leader.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The public at large is gradually becoming numb to our Palantirized surveillance state, and American communities are responding to the militarization of federal law enforcement with their own increasingly intricate webs of sousveillance.—
Sarah Jeong,
The Verge,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Do not rub any affected area or use a heating pad or another device like a hairdryer to warm the skin because the person's skin may be numb and doing so may cause more damage to the skin.—
Yi-Jin Yu,
ABC News,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The fabric maven muses about how inanimate things receive memories.—
Robert Sullivan,
Vogue,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Even Lander Lil, an inanimate bronze statue of a prairie dog located in Wyoming tasked by locals with a similar weather-prediction role, has a higher prediction rate than Phil, with 75% accuracy.—
Chris Barilla,
PEOPLE,
2 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
In between, the Ball Arena patrons were merciless in their jeering of the officials.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Against some audiences’ will, Ari Aster’s merciless black comedy drags us back to May 2020 when tempers, temperatures and misinformation were heating up across America.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
When Bill’s older brother Henry (Barry Ward) finds the pianist in numbed solitude in his dingy apartment, Bill has canceled all his upcoming gigs, saying Scotty cannot be replaced.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Ingber also notes the numbed response to these strikes from much of the American public, something that, in part, may come from the routine nature of these drone strikes as something that the nation has become desensitized to dropping bombs on enemies.—
Rebecca Schneid,
Time,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Officers responded to reports of an unconscious 42-year-old man lying in the grass near Cottonwood Creek Trail Friday evening.—
Elissa Jorgensen,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
-
The panel watched footage of an unconscious 17-year-old girl being raped by Oren Alexander, which the public was not permitted to see.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
With a 15 percent slope and soils consisting of shattered rock and very stony loam with a small percentage of clay, the soil is low in organic matter and drains extremely well.—
Mike DeSimone,
Robb Report,
22 Feb. 2026
-
The sculptor, David Adickes, was an Army veteran who'd wanted his stony visages to gleam.—
Danielle Paquette The Washington Post,
Arkansas Online,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
While the main areas can be dramatic and flashy with the disco balls, string lights, and bold colors, the rooms are light and serene—the perfect places to unwind and fall blissfully asleep.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Since many hotels usually have a couple pillows of different firmness levels on a bed, falling and staying asleep won’t be a fever dream no matter your sleeping position.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unfeeling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfeeling. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
