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insensible. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
insensible, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
insensible in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
insensible you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English insensible, from Old French insensible, from Late Latin īnsēnsibilis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪnˈsɛns.ɪ.bəl/,
- Hyphenation: in‧sen‧si‧ble
Adjective
insensible (comparative more insensible, superlative most insensible)
- Unable to be perceived by the senses.
1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:They fall away, / And languish with insensible decay.
- Incapable or deprived of physical sensation.
1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Fate of the Artemis”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:“ […] Captain Markam had been found lying half-insensible, gagged and bound, on the floor of the sitting-room, his hands and feet tightly pinioned, and a woollen comforter wound closely round his mouth and neck ; whilst Mrs. Markham's jewel-case, containing valuable jewellery and the secret plans of Port Arthur, had disappeared. […]”
2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:The Leicester Daily Mercury reflected on how these concerns were the result of changing ways of getting around: "It might sound a bit crazy or just a little revolting that at Christmas works parties, some should drink themselves into a near-insensible state... This was not serious when they used public transport, but today more men and women use their own cars."
- Unable to be understood; unintelligible.
- Not sensible or reasonable; meaningless.
1736, Matthew Hale, Historia Placitorum Coronæ:If it make the indictment be insensible or uncertain, […] it shall be quashed.
- Incapable of mental feeling; indifferent.
1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:Lost in their loves, insensible of shame.
1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: for T Egerton, , →OCLC:In spite of her deep-rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man's affection […]
- Incapable of emotional feeling; callous; apathetic.
- Synonym: insensitive
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
unable to be perceived by the sense
incapable of emotional feeling
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French insensible, from Late Latin īnsēnsibilis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
insensible (plural insensibles)
- insensible
- impervious
- unperceivable, imperceptible
- Synonym: imperceptible
Derived terms
Further reading
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin īnsēnsibilis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /insenˈsible/
- Rhymes: -ible
- Syllabification: in‧sen‧si‧ble
Adjective
insensible m or f (masculine and feminine plural insensibles)
- insensible, insensitive, callous, cold, tactless
- Antonym: sensible
Derived terms
Further reading