Definition of unfeelingnext
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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 One solution is to create more positive role models for AI systems—at present, the canon mostly comprises murderous and unfeeling robots, like HAL 9000 and the Terminator. Tharin Pillay, Time, 12 Mar. 2026 The truth is that state government is not some distant, unfeeling bureaucracy. John Atkinson, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2026 There’d be too much sympathy in watching this cookie get pulverized by unfeeling overlords. Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026 For example, 1975’s Welfare carefully documents the hoops that working people had to jump through to obtain welfare benefits at New York’s Waverly Welfare Center, representing the government as an intractable and unfeeling force. Vikram Murthi, The Atlantic, 22 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for unfeeling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfeeling
Adjective
  • Natural selection is usually ruthless about weeding out traits with no function.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Supergirl builds to a final showdown with Krem of the Yellow Hills, the ruthless Brigands leader who murdered Ruthye’s family and poisoned Krypto early in the film.
    Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026
Adjective
  • Some doctors understandably get a bit numb to the pain of their patients.
    Lawrence Ingrassia, STAT, 26 June 2026
  • How do people care for one another without becoming uncomfortably numb to others’ pain and suffering?
    Sean Murphy, The Conversation, 25 June 2026
Adjective
  • 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
  • Both cameras have extremely sticky tracking systems that focus on the eyes of people, wildlife, pets, and insects, as well as inanimate subjects like trains, planes, automobiles, and motorbikes.
    Jim Fisher, PC Magazine, 13 May 2026
Adjective
  • The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.
    David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
  • Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.
    Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 19 June 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
  • The moped passenger, who police said was struck by the truck’s rear wheel, can be seen on the video splayed out unconscious on the street.
    Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026
  • Officers responding to the incident found an unconscious man lying on the sidewalk suffering from at least one gunshot wound.
    CBS News, CBS News, 29 June 2026
Adjective
  • Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.
    Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
  • Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.
    Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026
Adjective
  • According to the arrest report, the victim had fallen asleep while seated at the dining room table.
    Anna McAllister, CBS News, 22 June 2026
  • At least one was an infant, asleep in the back seat.
    Paige Williams, New Yorker, 22 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Unfeeling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfeeling. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.

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