1
as in unconscious
lacking animate awareness or sensation
the belief that God is immanent in all things, even insensate objects
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
an insensate boss who refuses to allow time off for funerals
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of insensate
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensate
Adjective
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Yonah described how the girls were floating unconscious in the water, their life jackets keeping them afloat, as their father—who does not know how to swim—scraped up his hands, feet and back trying to save them.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
14 Aug. 2025
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But before everything hits the fan, Nate is found unconscious, and suspicion is growing around who has committed this crime.—
Lynnette Nicholas,
Parents,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Sweeney stars as Penny Jo, a South Dakota diner waitress with an appealing smile, an ingratiating stammer, a scarf in her hair, and deep reserves of ruthless ambition.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Aug. 2025
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Early in his career, Trump apprenticed himself to Roy Cohn, an unprincipled lawyer who taught the young Donald how to gain wealth and influence through ruthless bullying, profane braggadocio, opportunistic bigotry, baseless lawsuits, lying, and more lying.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Of these performances, its is the most inanimate and yet evocative.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
6 June 2025
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Thin bony fingers as inanimate as dry cigarette papers.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
16 July 2025
Adjective
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Hollywood loves a polarizing star with a merciless marketing punch that sells.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
17 Aug. 2025
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There’s little doubt Curtis Windom perpetrated an unjustifiable evil, killing three people, including his girlfriend and her mother, shooting them in merciless fashion on Feb. 7, 1992 in Winter Garden.—
Scott Maxwell,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As a result, this scientific approach to cooking is often derided as cold and unfeeling—the opposite of what good food is supposed to be.—
Erica Westly,
IEEE Spectrum,
23 Mar. 2010
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Then, the men had to walk around as these unfeeling, aggressive, hyper-masculine creatures.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
28 May 2025
Adjective
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No expensive meter running that is racking up hefty bills and stony fees.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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On the palate, fresh red cherry, juicy melon, and stony minerality.—
Joseph V Micallef,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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Friends and family remember Greg Najee Grimes as a devoted father, a loving son, a supportive friend and a mentor in Sacramento whose life was ended way too soon by senseless gun violence.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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To say that Babe was – and still is – bigger than life is to engage in senseless futility.—
Eli Amdur,
Forbes.com,
10 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Tennant costars in The Thursday Murder Club as Ian Ventham, the callous, money-hungry co-owner of Coopers Chase.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
28 Aug. 2025
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The New Yorker’s Talk writer was similarly blinkered and callous, treating Grey like a consenting partner and Chaplin as a dual victim, of his mother-in-law’s venality and of Middle America’s moral prejudices.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Insensate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensate. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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