insensitiveadj.
/ɪnˈsɛnsɪtɪv/ Not sensitive.† 1. Destitute of feeling or consciousness (in general); not sentient; inanimate. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective]
unfeelingc1000
dead?c1225
unwitlessc1225
insensiblec1400
unfeelablec1400
unfredeablec1450
insensate?1520
blatea1522
deaf?1527
unsensible1531
inanimatea1555
senseless1557
unsensate1561
sleeping1562
insensitive1610
unsensitive1610
torpid1613
inanimated1646
torpent1647
unperceptive1668
feelless1684
insentient1764
unsentient1768
sensationless1824
apathic1835
non-sensitive1836
zombie-like1932
zombie-esque1946
zomboid1963
zombied1972
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xiii. ii. 471 Though man bee not insensitiue, yet this sence of his..is iustly termed rather death then life.
a1694 J. Tillotson Serm. (1743) IX. clxxvi. 4110 This faculty is that which constitutes the difference between sensitive and insensitive creatures.
1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. iv. i. 85 Sensitive, or insensitive Creatures.
2.
a. Of an organ or part of the body: Destitute of feeling or sensation; not susceptible of sensuous impressions (esp. those of touch or sight). Const. to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective] > of a part of the body
insensitive1866
1866 Sat. Rev. 21 Apr. 467 A certain degree of sluggishness is inseparable from a skin insensitive to dirt.
1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight iii. 38 One spot on the retina, not very far from the most sensitive portion, is entirely insensitive to light.
1884 Expositor Jan. 41 Their optic nerve has shrunk to an insensitive thread.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. xxvii. 432 A painless, insensitive..granulomatous excrescence.
b. transferred. Of a substance: Not susceptible to a physical influence, esp. that of light or the actinic rays. Const. to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > scientific effects of light > [adjective] > unaffected by
insensitive1871
photoneutral1950
1871 tr. H. Schellen Spectrum Anal. §35. 129 Most substances absorbed with great avidity rays of certain colors, while they were insensitive to others.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) III. 1 The film, which is then totally insensitive to light.
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 394 Pure iodide of silver gelatine is for optical sensitizers even quite insensitive.
c. Of a mathematical or physical quantity: (relatively) unaffected in value by variations in some related quantity. Const. to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > [adjective] > unaffected by variations in related quantity
insensitive1968
the world > matter > physics > energy or power of doing work > [adjective] > unaffected by variation in related quantity
insensitive1968
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [adjective] > prime > other
commona1398
unarithmetical1671
algebraic1912
square-free1960
insensitive1968
1968 L. Fox & D. F. Mayers Computing Methods for Scientists & Engineers iii. 31 As r decreases, the results become increasingly insensitive to small changes in the given condition.
1970 Nature 25 July 334/2 The energy of interaction turns out to be rather insensitive to ε(ω) at these frequencies if the layer materials are of similar density.
3. Destitute of, or wanting in, mental or moral sensitiveness; having no quickness of feeling; not susceptible of impression. Const. to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > lacking emotional sensibility
unfeelingc1000
mis-feelinga1382
stonishc1450
unpainfulc1450
obtuse1509
sprightlessa1522
insensate1553
senseless1560
soulless1568
dull-esprited1591
impassible1592
bluntie1598
impenetrable1600
stockish1600
stolidc1600
incapable1601
stupid1605
tasteless1605
unsensitive1610
unexalted1611
insensible1617
unsensible1619
languid1622
immovable1639
dead-hearted1642
sterile1642
resupine1643
unaffectionate1645
iron-bound1648
resentlessa1649
torpid1656
torpulent1657
impassive1699
unreceptive1722
hebete1743
apathetic1744
stubbed1744
gustless1766
unresponsive1768
unsusceptible1779
tideless-blooded1786
unaffectioned1788
inaccessible1796
hebetudinous1820
unimpressible1828
insensitive1834
apathetical1835
non-sensitive1836
blunt-hearted1845
irreceptive1846
unreceptant1846
unimpressionable1847
anaesthetic1860
insentient1860
hard (also tough, sharp) as nails1862
unsqueamish1893
tone-deaf1894
unget-at-able1897
facty1901
zombie1937
pegamoid1957
1834 T. Campbell Life Mrs. Siddons II. ii. 49 Insensitive as we have seen her to the slightest joy at the return of her husband.
1881 R. C. Praed Policy & Passion I. 40 Longleat's insensitive nature.
Draft additions 1993
inˈsensitively adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adverb]
unappassionately1598
stupidlya1626
dispassionately1717
impassively1828
apathetically1831
passionlessly1831
soullessly1832
stockishly1846
unresponsively1853
feelinglessly1856
stolidly1856
insensately1863
impassibly1872
unemotionally1884
stonily1899
insensitively1961
1961 in N. Webster
1966 Listener 17 Feb. 257/3 I find the new record of Rossini's Stabat Mater..an almost complete write-off, because this New York performance..is..vulgarly and insensitively sung.
1990 A. N. Wilson C. S. Lewis xix. 280 She was not at all the insensitively breezy kind, but it was not possible..to be miserable in her company for long.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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adj.1610