1
as in inanimate
lacking animate awareness or sensation
refused to believe that the universe as we know it evolved from the random interactions of insentient particles of matter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in imperceptive
not having or showing a deep understanding of something
an insentient therapist who failed to see what the teenager's real problem was
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of insentient
This is partly because the loss of insentient machinery, no matter how expensive, is easier to stomach than the death of an aircrew.
—
Lauren Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2023
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
Genes are insentient things and cannot be said to have any kind of purposeful selfish or unselfish behavior.
—Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2017
Lauren Kahn, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2023
But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.
—Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
Genes are insentient things and cannot be said to have any kind of purposeful selfish or unselfish behavior.
—Quanta Magazine, 14 Sep. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insentient
Adjective
-
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
-
But there are inanimate pets in the cemetery.—
Jennie Key,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Echoing the decade's sleek silhouettes, Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell wound their manes into taut high ponytails that emphasized their chiseled features; the former securing hers with scrunchie, and the latter wrapping a section around the elastic to imperceptive effect.—
Lauren Valenti,
Vogue,
19 Aug. 2021
Adjective
-
This disrupts unconscious bias in real-time.—
Carolina Guardiola Romo,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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The investigation revealed Samnath was left at the hospital unconscious in a wheelchair Television Jamaica (TVJ) previously reported.—
Samira Asma-Sadeque,
PEOPLE,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
Directed by Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen, Jim Queen is a crass, profane, giddily stupid romp through a heap of stereotypes about gay life in Paris.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
-
For the record, those students are not stupid.—
Hope Loudon,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 May 2026
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
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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
-
Memory, conveyed by an unperceptive, mechanically flowing camera, seems disconnected from culture.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 Nov. 2021
-
He could not be seen, just as the little black boy was not seen, or was seen inaccurately, by the unperceptive and disdainful white boy.—
Louise Glück,
The New York Review of Books,
14 Jan. 2021
Adjective
-
In fact, one of my chief complaints about some contemporary thrillers is the feeling that characters are required to do dumb stuff by the unseen hand of the author, just so more crazy twists can happen.—
John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
-
But Williamson isn’t usually dumb.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
With runners on first and second and one away, new reliever Tim Hill then made the unwise decision to throw to third after fielding a comebacker.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2026
-
That would be unwise, given its steady sales and good fit in its market.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Insentient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insentient. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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