unfeeling
Americanadjective
-
not feeling; devoid of feeling; insensible or insensate.
- Synonyms:
- numb
-
unsympathetic; callous.
an intelligent but unfeeling man.
- Synonyms:
- hardhearted
- Antonyms:
- sympathetic
adjective
-
without sympathy; callous
-
without physical feeling or sensation
Synonym Usage
See hard.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unfeeling
before 1000; Middle English; Old English unfelende. See un- 1, feel, -ing 2
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.
When he dismisses a contagion that killed millions as a “global gob of spit,” Mr. Tesson seems unfeeling and out of touch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
A cool head, an unfeeling heart, and a cowardly disposition prompted him, at the age of nineteen, to assume the mask of hypocrisy, which he never afterwards laid aside….
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2025
It’s what makes you a thinking, sentient being rather than an unfeeling mechanism.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 7, 2023
Noughties celebrity culture will be remembered for stars like Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty tackling troubles in the glare of publicity, while the tabloids and lad mags wielded unfeeling and voyeuristic power.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2023
But the harassed and unfeeling teachers assured each other that this was just a subterfuge for a child to get out of the classroom for a little while.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
