as in unconscious
lacking animate awareness or sensation
"pathetic fallacy" is the literary term for the ascription of human feelings or motives to inanimate natural elements
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Recent Examples of inanimate
Suddenly, the buildings were not inanimate beings but creatures of memory and scars.
—
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 16 Mar. 2026
The fabric maven muses about how inanimate things receive memories.
—Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 16 Feb. 2026
The building would undergo a restoration, in 2017, but in that intervening period the inanimate structure seemed actually dead.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
Disinfect Surfaces Cold-causing viruses can survive on inanimate surface areas for hours.
—Christopher Bergland, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 16 Mar. 2026
The fabric maven muses about how inanimate things receive memories.
—Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 16 Feb. 2026
The building would undergo a restoration, in 2017, but in that intervening period the inanimate structure seemed actually dead.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
Disinfect Surfaces Cold-causing viruses can survive on inanimate surface areas for hours.
—Christopher Bergland, Verywell Health, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inanimate
Adjective
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In July 2023, a 57-year-old woman died after becoming unconscious during an eight-mile hike in the remote Tuweep area of Grand Canyon National Park, where temperatures were above 100 degrees, according to the NPS.—
Jessica Mekles,
FOXNews.com,
15 June 2026
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Prosecutors, who had sought seven years and seven months in jail, said that the four women accusing him of rape, in both the proven and unproven cases, had each time been too unconscious or too incapacitated to resist him after attending parties.—
Gwladys Fouche,
USA Today,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
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One says, God can always see you with his unfeeling precision.—
Sandra Lim,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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As the actor tells Glamour, most were written according to stereotypes and portrayed as cold, unfeeling, aggressive, or robotic.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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This is partly because the loss of insentient machinery, no matter how expensive, is easier to stomach than the death of an aircrew.—
Lauren Kahn,
Foreign Affairs,
6 June 2023
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But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off.—
Houman Barekat,
New York Times,
29 Mar. 2023
Adjective
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Last year's Canadian Open was a birdie-fest and ball-knowers, aka golf course nerds, are dragging TPC Toronto, calling it lifeless and uninspiring.—
Geoff Clark OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2026
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Expecting a romantic interlude, he is horrified to find Jenny’s lifeless body artfully arranged on the bed.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inanimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inanimate. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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