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as in unconscious
having lost consciousness if a choking person is insensible, you should lay them down on their back before performing the Heimlich maneuver

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as in insensate
lacking animate awareness or sensation even the canyon's insensible rocks seemed to mock the stranded climber's utter helplessness

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of insensible Also invited, for insensible reasons, is Neville’s first wife, Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland), blond to Kay’s brunette, for easy identification. Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025 The ‘real’ Camille, meanwhile, has become an insensible, comatose carcass, although no one seems to notice. Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025 Foreman tumbled downward in a dizzy, slow-motion-like crash, full-weight, a helpless giant, insensible. Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2025 The ‘real’ Camille, meanwhile, has become an insensible, comatose carcass, although no one seems to notice. Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025 Foreman tumbled downward in a dizzy, slow-motion-like crash, full-weight, a helpless giant, insensible. Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, 17 Jan. 2025 Or lobbyists can sometimes intervene and gain insensible exemptions from bans. IEEE Spectrum, 10 Feb. 2024 But the Cylinder Sling by Building Block flirts with such attitude without becoming rude or insensible. Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2022 The novel positions him as insensible to agendas, hopelessly subject to the whims of the altruistic and the cruel. Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for insensible
Adjective
  • In some cases, AI feedback forced Martinez to reflect on how unconscious bias may have shaped his original assessment.
    Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 8 July 2025
  • Used responsibly, these systems can offer clearer benchmarks and reduce unconscious bias.
    Andrew Fennell, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
Adjective
  • Whether in a lab or a bedroom, the unconscious brain often connects ideas in ways our waking selves can’t, delivering sudden insights that feel like inspiration — but are really the reward for deep, often invisible, thought.
    Chris Reed, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2025
  • The app is invisible and undetectable on the phone.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 3 July 2025
Adjective
  • The collection’s journey touched down in Argentina, the Scottish Highlands, as well as New Zealand and Australia, home of its merino wool, for a refined traveler’s wardrobe crafted from top-notch fabrications exuding nonchalant sophistication.
    Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 8 July 2025
  • At half-time, as Rayan Cherki enjoyed 15 minutes of nonchalant showboating, an altogether more ferocious warm-up was taking place just across the pitch.
    Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • 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
Adjective
  • The comics were often dismissed as a vulgar form, but the bad joke of our superhero-movie culture is that most of it is a vulgarization of the comics.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 July 2025
  • Nan’s rebellion was never loud or vulgar but always quietly confident and effortlessly elegant.
    Felicity Carter, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
Adjective
  • Consequently, many of those enslaved in Texas remained ignorant of the proclamation’s potential impact on their lives, or of the fact the Civil War had functionally ended two months earlier.
    Timothy Welbeck, The Conversation, 16 June 2025
  • Careless or ignorant reporting has obscured objective reality.
    Nicholas DiMarzio, New York Daily News, 13 June 2025
Adjective
  • Tucked within a dense forest and set inside a cave, the restaurant is almost imperceptible from the outside.
    Susmita Baral, Travel + Leisure, 7 July 2025
  • Generally, corn and rice pasta have a mild flavor that’s almost imperceptible under any sauce.
    BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • Visitors have their pick of food options, including coastal cuisine, farm-to-table meals, and casual spots with live music.
    Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 13 July 2025
  • Corrie and Shuai Wang, owners of North Charleston’s popular Jackrabbit Filly, opened King BBQ in a casual diner-style space in late 2023.
    Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 13 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Insensible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensible. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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