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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 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 That’s because for decades, reptiles have been characterized as cold, unfeeling, and even primitive creatures. Lily Carey, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024 But as the film unspools and Agent Smith comes face to face with Neo and his master Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), Weaving begins showing signs that this AI is not so unfeeling, not so unbothered after all. Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2024 See All Example Sentences for unfeeling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfeeling
Adjective
  • Their methods—ruthless melodic math, brazenly artificial production, and an odd soft spot for reggae rhythms—helped define the world-conquering sound of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
  • To play someone whose world is so beautiful on the surface but whose secrets are ruthless has been an exhilarating challenge.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Penile-inversion surgery is rumored to render the tissue numb.
    Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 6 Oct. 2025
  • So, like, the top of my ass, that skin part is numb.
    Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Many people backed his daughter because there was a dog outside in a way, while others acknowledge how creepy that inanimate face could be to a child.
    Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Thin bony fingers as inanimate as dry cigarette papers.
    Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 16 July 2025
Adjective
  • The novel intertwines present-day events with painful memories of the lives of her parents, who tried to protect their love from war, jealousy, and the cruelty of the merciless Soviet government.
    Nelly Klos September 29, Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
  • In the present day, Lockjaw reenters Bob and Willa’s lives with merciless force, deploying troops from his immigration taskforce on Baktan Cross, the sanctuary city where Bob and Willa have been laying low in the 16 years since Pat became Bob and baby Charlene, Willa, as the two went on the lam.
    Rory Doherty, Time, 26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • In the critical texts and curatorial essays reprinted here, Enwezor repeatedly engaged with artists who were on their own conscious or unconscious quests for identities that could not be reduced to their appearances or to the way their lives had been historicized.
    Simon Njami, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Chop off the unconscious scientist's hand!
    Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • According to the Earth Impact Effects Program calculator, developed by Imperial College in London, U.K., a stony asteroid the size of 2025 FA22 could cause a crater 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) wide.
    Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Its stony soil and cool climate produce lower yields, but more expressive flavors, especially in chardonnay, pinot noir, and sparkling wines.
    Alexandra Emanuelli, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The couple reportedly pretended to be asleep when they were approached by a flight attendant.
    Michael Nied, PEOPLE, 6 Oct. 2025
  • While seven dogs can be seen sprawled across the floor and sofa, sound asleep, owner Erika Reiley’s cockapoo sits upright, watching in confusion.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
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

“Unfeeling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfeeling. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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