insensate

adjective

in·​sen·​sate (ˌ)in-ˈsen-ˌsāt 

-sət

1

: lacking sense or understanding

also : foolish

2

: lacking animate awareness or sensation

3

: lacking humane feeling : brutal

insensately adverb

Synonyms

• inanimate
• insensible
• insentient
• senseless
• unfeeling

Examples of insensate in a Sentence

the belief that God is immanent in all things, even insensate objects

an insensate boss who refuses to allow time off for funerals

Recent Examples on the Web

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

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

Jerome Powell and his Federal Reserve colleagues are hardly insensate to the risk that their inflation-fighting actions might bring Mr. Trump back to power. —Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 14 June 2022

Realigning themselves with sophomoric virtues, the stars sell their souls in accommodation to the insensate new era. —Armond White, National Review, 28 Oct. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin insensatus, from Latin in- + Late Latin sensatus having sense, from Latin sensus sense

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

insensate

adjective

in·​sen·​sate (ˈ)in-ˈsen-ˌsāt 

1

: lacking awareness or sensation : inanimate

2

: lacking sense or understanding

3

: lacking humane feelings : brutal

insensately adverb

Medical Definition

insensate

adjective

in·​sen·​sate (ˈ)in-ˈsen-ˌsāt, -sət 

: devoid of sensation or feeling

ulcers developed in the insensate foot