insensate
Americanadjective
-
not endowed with sensation; inanimate.
insensate stone.
-
without human feeling or sensitivity; cold; cruel; brutal.
- Synonyms:
- insensible
-
without sense, understanding, or judgment; foolish.
- Synonyms:
- dumb, witless, senseless, irrational, stupid
adjective
-
lacking sensation or consciousness
-
insensitive; unfeeling
-
foolish; senseless
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insensate
First recorded in 1510–20, insensate is from the Late Latin word insēnsātus irrational. See in- 3, sensate
Explanation
Insensate is a word to describe something without feelings or consciousness. Cars, computers, and stuffed animals are all insensate (though some of us occasionally project thoughts and personalities onto them). Insensate can also describe individuals who seem to lack the characteristically human emotions of kindness and generosity. A person who tears a stuffed animal out of the hands of a young child might be described as insensate. Another meaning of insensate is “lacking intelligence.” In short, insensate, in any sense of the word, is usually something that you don’t want to be.
Vocabulary lists containing insensate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She is under general anaesthesia: unconscious, insensate and rendered completely still by a blend of drugs that induce deep sleep, block memory, blunt pain and temporarily paralyse her muscles.
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2025
Speaking personally, the terror-fueled adrenaline dump that would have ensued after I read that very first “Do not answer” would have reduced me to an insensate lump.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
Supreme Court, have maintained that the use of midazolam as the first in a three-drug protocol is likely to render an inmate insensate to pain.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2022
But this weekend has illustrated both the long and short-term threat of this insensate attitude.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2021
Slumped by the fire, in the midst of all of that shouting, was Dr. Trefusis, insensate, shivering though near flame, stubble upon his cheeks and chin, his scarce hair still clammy.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
