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as in unconscious
having lost consciousness if a choking person is insensible, you should lay them down on their back before performing the Heimlich maneuver

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as in insensate
lacking animate awareness or sensation even the canyon's insensible rocks seemed to mock the stranded climber's utter helplessness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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 insensible The ‘real’ Camille, meanwhile, has become an insensible, comatose carcass, although no one seems to notice. Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025 Foreman tumbled downward in a dizzy, slow-motion-like crash, full-weight, a helpless giant, insensible. Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2025 Or lobbyists can sometimes intervene and gain insensible exemptions from bans. IEEE Spectrum, 10 Feb. 2024 But the Cylinder Sling by Building Block flirts with such attitude without becoming rude or insensible. Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2022 The novel positions him as insensible to agendas, hopelessly subject to the whims of the altruistic and the cruel. Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2022 Armando Iannucci’s brilliant 2017 farce, The Death of Stalin, explores that question on a literal plane, with Stalin’s deputies frantically maneuvering for position while Stalin, not yet entirely dead, lies insensible and unattended on the floor. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 22 Apr. 2022 Combat troops get inured to death, but Yaroslav’s comrades seemed to me beyond inured, insensible. New York Times, 16 Jan. 2022 Being sick also can lead to insensible fluid loss, such as sweating from fever or blowing your nose, Rosner says, while vomiting or diarrhea can exacerbate fluid loss. Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensible
Adjective
  • The actress was unconscious and unresponsive, according to the New York Police Department.
    Brie Stimson, Fox News, 27 Feb. 2025
  • This residual may stem from conscious or unconscious bias or other factors outside the scope of this research.
    Kweilin Ellingrud, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • But there’s an art to crafting invisible unease — and in maintaining that sense of unease as our understanding (well, our wild suspicions) of Lumon Industries has changed over the course of the Apple TV+ series’ run.
    Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 24 Feb. 2025
  • Employees lose an average of six and a half hours a week dealing with personal issues—an invisible drain on focus and productivity that amounts to nearly a fifth of their workweek.
    Nirit Cohen, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Other users weighed in with a more nonchalant mindset.
    Arabella Hau, People.com, 16 Feb. 2025
  • His distinctive nonchalant California glam aesthetic has evolved in his properties throughout the West Coast.
    Sofia Celeste, WWD, 11 Feb. 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
Adjective
  • However, these arrangements were not mere shakedowns; they were anchored in strategic diplomacy and geopolitical calculus, rather than vulgar profiteering.
    Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Her Facebook and email had been flooded with vulgar, inflammatory responses.
    Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 24 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Because not only do viewers suffer through the whitest cast ever, but also one of its most politically ignorant.
    Melanie Curry, refinery29.com, 17 Feb. 2025
  • Greed could refer to material attachment, jealousy bleeds into hatred, and delusion encompasses similar attitudes, like living a life ignorant to Buddha’s teachings or being dull and uncaring.
    Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • While many skin scents hover close to the skin with a nearly imperceptible sillage, Snif’s is infused with powdery orris.
    Jenny Berg, Allure, 8 Feb. 2025
  • According to Mohr, while the handoff between the electric motor and the combustion engine must be imperceptible, everything else must adhere to traditional Lamborghini DNA in terms of driving feel.
    Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Very family friendly, one of the Montage signatures is Daly’s Rec and Pub, a casual bar eatery with kid friendly menus like brick oven pizza and specialty sodas, plus vintage arcade games and a full-sized multi-lane bowling alley.
    Larry Olmsted, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
  • Simultaneously elegant and casual, the resort feels like a hidden gem in Myrtle Beach.
    Lydia Mansel, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Insensible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensible. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.

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