unresponsive

adjective

un·​re·​spon·​sive ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv How to pronounce unresponsive (audio)
Synonyms of unresponsivenext
: 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
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Upon arrival, officers found an unresponsive 28-year-old man in the street with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 14 June 2026 The sheriff's office said that two twin girls, both age 5, had been found unresponsive at the bottom of the house's pool. Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026 Officers responded to a call of a person shot and found a victim unresponsive in the street with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2026 LaFlamme said an officer from the Simsbury Police Department who was working a private detail at High Meadow responded to the pool area and started medical care on an unresponsive boy. Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 11 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for unresponsive

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unresponsive was in 1768

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unresponsive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unresponsive. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.

Medical Definition

unresponsive

adjective
un·​re·​spon·​sive ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv How to pronounce unresponsive (audio)
: not responsive (as to a stimulus or treatment)
an unresponsive ulcer
unresponsiveness noun

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