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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inanimate
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
Songbirds bond for seasons, octopuses defend their mates, and children shower their affection on inanimate plushies.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025
Many people backed his daughter because there was a dog outside in a way, while others acknowledge how creepy that inanimate face could be to a child.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
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
Songbirds bond for seasons, octopuses defend their mates, and children shower their affection on inanimate plushies.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025
Many people backed his daughter because there was a dog outside in a way, while others acknowledge how creepy that inanimate face could be to a child.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inanimate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inanimate
Adjective
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Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, a 52-year-old father and Los Angeles resident, died Wednesday, March 25 after being found unconscious and unresponsive inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, ICE officials stated in a news release.—
Ryanne Mena,
Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
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One security officer was struck by the vehicle and briefly knocked unconscious but did not suffer life‑threatening injuries.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 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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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
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The truth is that state government is not some distant, unfeeling bureaucracy.—
John Atkinson,
Chicago Tribune,
2 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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Everyone knows what happens — believing Juliet to be dead, Romeo takes actual poison and kills himself, causing Juliet to stab herself to death after waking up next to her lover’s lifeless corpse.—
Ellise Shafer,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2026
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The lifeless body is being transported to legal medicine in Medellín for identification and recognition.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inanimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inanimate. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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