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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
  • The vagus nerve—the part of your nervous system that’s responsible for regulating various unconscious bodily functions like your heart rate, immune response, and digestion—plays a major role in these symptoms.
    Kathleen Ferraro, SELF, 15 Apr. 2025
  • By the time the wagon arrived at the Western District station, its sixth stop, Gray was unconscious.
    Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, Baltimore Sun, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Combatting ageism and invisibility in the startup culture Startup spaces often glorify youth, leaving experienced women feeling invisible.
    Melissa Houston, Forbes.com, 12 Apr. 2025
  • The phenomenon will be invisible to those on earth.
    Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Their dominance was complete and almost nonchalant.
    Michael Walker, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Sure, your cat may look rather nonchalant about it.
    Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 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 Europeans were enchanted by the expressive fluency that the New York critics had considered vulgar.
    David Denby, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
  • The chief spoke at the LAPD’s Police Commission weekly meeting Tuesday, a day after news broke that officers from the department’s recruitment and employment division had been unknowingly recorded making vulgar comments, including while talking about police applicants.
    Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • But Slingshot’s breach of contract suit alleges that Angel continually broke provisions of their agreement, and sometimes seemed entirely ignorant of them.
    Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Naturally, this poor woman is ignorant of her friend Susan’s role in her granddaughter’s disappearance.
    Chris Klimek, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • The emotional cost of mentally undoing and redoing past events might be imperceptible in the moment, but compounds considerably in the long run.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
  • There was very little, almost imperceptible cross-control.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The Retreat Linen Top and matching Mid-rise Shorts, both over 40 percent off, can be styled together for a polished resort outfit or worn separately with basics for casual, everyday wear.
    Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 20 Apr. 2025
  • As the Sunday evening set’s start time lingered over his head, Junior H traded his casual, pink jersey for an all-white outfit that would contrast his band’s all-black attire.
    Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Insensible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insensible. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.

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