unresponsive

adjective

un·​re·​spon·​sive ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv 

: not responsive

The patient was unresponsive.

an infection unresponsive to antibiotics

an unresponsive bureaucracy

Although they are able to locate their own food at two weeks of age, fledgling robins will still piteously beg handouts from their increasingly unresponsive father.

—Millard H. Sharp

unresponsively adverb

staring unresponsively

unresponsiveness noun

Examples of unresponsive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Medical staff were called to assist, but upon their arrival, the man was no longer breathing and remained unresponsive, the sheriff's office said. —Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024

As if a world so placid and unresponsive could excite only the opposite sensations in him. —Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024

Instead, in November 2022, her husband found her in bed unresponsive, ProPublica reported. —Kathryn Varn, Axios, 31 Oct. 2024

The 10-year-old girl — whose name has not been released — was unresponsive when police arrived. —Emily Palmer, People.com, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

unresponsive

adjective

un·​re·​spon·​sive ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv 

: not responsive (as to a stimulus or treatment)

an unresponsive ulcer

unresponsiveness noun