insulate
Americanverb (used with object)
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insulates,
present (3rd person singular)
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insulated,
past participle, past
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insulating
present participle
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to cover, line, or separate with a material that prevents or reduces the passage, transfer, or leakage of heat, electricity, or sound.
to insulate an electric wire with a rubber sheath; to insulate a coat with down.
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to place in an isolated situation or condition; segregate.
verb
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to prevent or reduce the transmission of electricity, heat, or sound to or from (a body, device, or region) by surrounding with a nonconducting material
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to isolate or detach
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preinsulateverb (used with object)
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reinsulateverb (used with object)
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noninsulatingadjective
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superinsulatedadjective
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uninsulatedadjective
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well-insulatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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insulatesimple
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insulatessimple
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have insulatedperfect
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has insulatedperfect
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am insulatingprogressive
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are insulatingprogressive
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is insulatingprogressive
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have been insulatingperfect progressive
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has been insulatingperfect progressive
Past
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insulatedsimple
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had insulatedperfect
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was insulatingprogressive
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were insulatingprogressive
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had been insulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of insulate
First recorded in 1530–40, insulate is from the Latin word insulātus made into an island. See insula, -ate 1
Explanation
The verb insulate means "protect from heat, cold, or noise," like when you add an extra layer of clothing to insulate yourself from the cold. You can insulate a wall to keep sound out, or insulate your house to keep cold air from getting inside. So, to insulate is to protect against unwanted changes. Sometimes this can mean keeping out the influence or beliefs of other people, like a parent who tries to insulate his children from people who have different cultures or beliefs. You can see this meaning in the origin of insulate: the Latin word insula, meaning “to make into an island.”
Vocabulary lists containing insulate
Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer - Introductory
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This Week in Words: February 12 - 16, 2018
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Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
Maybe decades of floating in darkened silence would insulate you from the sheer terror of losing most of your money over and over and over again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
A huge wrinkle is that larger cities and metro areas benefit from economies of scale that help insulate them: they can afford dedicated OT security staff and redundant control systems.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
David Lawrence, of the Centre for British Progress think tank, puts it plainly: we don't tell people to insulate their homes in winter and then skip the radiators.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Makhijani told an associate he took extra precautions because wanted to insulate himself from litigation and that “they were sharks in the distressed world who took advantage of people,” the affidavit stated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
The change helped insulate agents from local corruption and created a truly national force, yet it also ignored regional difference and had the dehumanizing effect of constantly uprooting employees.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
To the extent AI insulates us from struggle—wrestling with new ideas, negotiating with other people, inventing bedtime stories for our children—something vital will be lost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
She’s looking into options like a cover that insulates the water, hybrid heaters and new electric heating models.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
The historical record here may show that being a lame duck insulates a Fed chair from political pressures.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 19, 2026
"Investors and global central banks have... favoured gold as their reserve currency of choice, which they believe insulates them from US policy dependence," says Wall.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
Myelin is often likened to the plastic coating around electrical wires—it insulates the neural circuits, making them about a hundred times faster than unmyelinated circuits.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Analysts say the group's Chinese patronage and business ties have allowed Wa State to remain relatively insulated from the civil war consuming the rest of Myanmar since a 2021 military coup.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
I also know how much luck lives inside that sentence, and that not everyone who loves this game gets to be insulated the way I was.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Investors are looking for opportunities insulated from the AI boom, including businesses built around human experiences that ChatGPT can’t replace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
I would imagine she knows that no single outcome is guaranteed and there is no way to live a life totally insulated from regret or misstep.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Maggie folded the map in half, set it on the insulated chests of frybread, and carried it all back to the truck.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Westinghouse has since focused more on its core business—making nuclear fuel, refueling reactors and maintaining many of the world’s nuclear power plants—while insulating itself from civil construction risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
But Apple’s “go-slow” strategy comes in handy on days when investor concerns about AI overspending flare up, insulating the stock from downturns that hit the semiconductor space.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
The work, published in Nature Electronics, shows that carefully controlling the atomic boundary between a semiconductor and its insulating layer can allow the dielectric to be made extremely thin while maintaining strong electrical performance.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
These entities are typically aimed at insulating the parent company from the risks and liabilities of a speculative investment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
But there was no insulating the sounds: the wail of a baby, the din of radios, the angry words of a family quarrel.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
