insensate en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ɪnˈsɛn.sət/
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Latin sensātus Latin īnsēnsātuslbor. English insensate Learned borrowing from Latin īnsēnsātus. By surface analysis, in- + sensate.
Meanings
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Having no sensation or consciousness; unconscious; inanimate.
Since thus divided — equal must it be If the deep barrier be of earth, or sea; It may be both — but one day end it must In the dark union of insensate dust.
1816, Lord Byron, Diodati:If I might be Insensate matter With sensate me Sitting within, Harking and prying, I might begin To dicker with dying.
1928, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Moriturus:
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Senseless; foolish; irrational; thoughtless.
[…]the sot, the gambler, the bully, the jockey, the insensate fool, were a thousand times preferable to Rashleigh;—[…]
1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 304:[…]the romping girl teased her . . . and was always trying to pick insensate quarrels with her about some "fellow" or other.
1913, Joseph Conrad, “ch. 6”, in Chance:Stupidly dozing, or communing with her incapable self about nothing, she sat for a little while with her hands at her ears. . . . Finally, she laid her insensate grasp upon the bottle that had swift and certain death in it, and, before his eyes, pulled out the cork with her teeth.
1854, Charles Dickens, chapter 13, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC:But in his insensate passion for revenge upon one who had all but murdered him, he had forgotten all else but the moment's specious opportunity.
1918, Louis Joseph Vance, “ch. 12”, in The False Faces:
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Unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive.
That insensate, bestial determination, iron-hearted, iron-strong, had beaten down opposition, had carried its point.
1904, Frank Norris, “ch. 6”, in A Man's Woman:I was cold-hearted, hard, insensate.
1847, Anne Brontë, “ch. 36”, in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall:[…]the most cold-blooded, callous murders and robberies, the work, on the face of it, of a well-organized band of thugs, brutal, insensate, little better than fiends.
1917, Frank L. Packard, “ch. 8”, in The Adventures of Jimmie Dale:
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Not responsive to sensory stimuli; unfeeling.
The presence of severe pain with a deep plantar foot infection in a diabetic patient is often the first alarming symptom, especially in a patient with a previously insensate foot.
2004 Aug. 1, Jeff G. van Baal, “Surgical Treatment of the Infected Diabetic Foot”, in Clinical Infectious Diseases, volume 39, page S126:The innocuous trauma of high pressure jets and bubble massage to the insensate breast and back areas had caused the bruising seen in the picture.
2005 Feb. 5, “Minerva”, in BMJ: British Medical Journal, volume 330, number 7486, page . 316:If the ophthalmic branch is cut the patient must be told about the hazards of having an insensate cornea.
1958 June, Edward B. Schlesinger, “Trigeminal Neuralgia”, in American Journal of Nursing, volume 58, number 6, page 854:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most insensate | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more insensate | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
Synonyms
stern · severe · hard-boiled · unaware · hardhearted · flint-hearted · insensitive · callous · grim · insensate · brutal · stonehearted · unwise · cold-eyed · thick-skinned · harsh · callous · iron-hearted · stony · hard · mindless · unreactive · unsympathetic · humorless · strict · hardhearted · insensible · heartless · cold · unreasonable · severe · dour · rockhearted · tough · forbidding · stonyhearted · marble-hearted · frosty · insensitive · nonsentient · hardened · unresponsive · hardhanded · icy · cruel · unmoved · rigorous
Translations (52)
de unvernünftig (senseless; foolish; irrational) · nl onzinnig (senseless; foolish; irrational) · hy անզգա (having no sensation or consciousness) · fi tunnoton (medicine, physiology: not responsive) · tr kıyıcı (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · pt desumano (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · hy անկարեկից (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · ru неразумный (senseless; foolish; irrational) · sv känslolös (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · bg неразумен (senseless; foolish; irrational) · ru безрассудный (senseless; foolish; irrational) · mi maurimoe (having no sensation or consciousness) · fi järjetön (senseless; foolish; irrational) · ru глу́пый (senseless; foolish; irrational) · ru бесчувственный (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · pl bez czucia (having no sensation or consciousness) · tr katı yürekli (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · tr ruhsuz (having no sensation or consciousness) · bg безчувствен (having no sensation or consciousness) · de unsinnig (senseless; foolish; irrational) · ru неодушевлённый (having no sensation or consciousness) · fi älytön (senseless; foolish; irrational) · fi tunnoton (having no sensation or consciousness) · tr hissiz (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · de empfindungslos (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · tr umursamaz (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · hy անզգամ (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · tr duygusuz (having no sensation or consciousness) · ru бесчелове́чный (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · tr duygusuz (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · nl gevoelloos (having no sensation or consciousness) · tr anlamsız (senseless; foolish; irrational) · es insensato (senseless; foolish; irrational) · pt inumano (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · nl hardvochtig (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · tr duyarsız (medicine, physiology: not responsive) · tr gaddar (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · hy անզգա (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · sv livlös (having no sensation or consciousness) · hy դաժան (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · fr insensé (senseless; foolish; irrational) · hy անկապ (senseless; foolish; irrational) · mr बधीर (medicine, physiology: not responsive) · hy անշունչ (having no sensation or consciousness) · hy անիմաստ (senseless; foolish; irrational) · pl bezmyślny (senseless; foolish; irrational) · tr kalpsiz (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · sv okänslig (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · ru бессмы́сленный (senseless; foolish; irrational) · ru жесто́кий (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · bg безчувствен (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive) · fi tunteeton (unfeeling, heartless, cruel, insensitive)