insensitive
Americanadjective
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deficient in human sensibility, acuteness of feeling, or consideration; unfeeling; callous.
an insensitive person.
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not physically sensitive.
insensitive skin.
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not affected by physical or chemical agencies or influences.
insensitive to light.
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not readily responsive or aware.
insensitive to the needs of the peasants.
adjective
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lacking sensitivity; unfeeling
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lacking physical sensation
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not sensitive (to) or affected (by)
insensitive to radiation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insensitive
Explanation
When you're insensitive, you're not feeling something. You can be insensitive to the weather or other people's problems. This word has two meanings that are closely related. When your foot is asleep, it's insensitive or numb — you can't feel your friend poking at it. When you get really cold, you can become insensitive to pain. In the other sense, insensitive means the opposite of caring and sympathetic — you're insensitive to other people's feelings. If you make a joke about your friend's bad haircut when you know she's embarrassed about it, you're being insensitive.
Vocabulary lists containing insensitive
Out of My Mind
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"The Perils of Indifference," Vocabulary from the speech
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Game Changer
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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.
It is naturally insensitive to polarization, highly stable, and allows waveguides to be written in three dimensions with minimal signal loss.
From Science Daily • Mar. 24, 2026
Over the years, “Here Lies Love” has been criticized as insensitive to the Filipino community in its perceived glamorization of Imelda and minimization of the atrocities committed by the Marcos regime.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
Markets remain acutely insensitive to policy risks, which could be a major risk itself over the coming months.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
Former X Factor contestant and mental health advocate Katie Waissel described the video as "triggering, insensitive and frankly reckless to push out as 'entertainment'".
From BBC • Jan. 17, 2026
There was no resistance, no response at all from the soft, insensitive mass, and after a while Yossarian’s spirit died and his arms dropped helplessly with exhaustion.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
