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INSENSIBLE
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Unresponsive to stimulation
Example:
drugged and senseless
Synonyms:
insensible; out of it; senseless
Classified under:
Similar:
unconscious (not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead)
Derivation:
insensibility (a lack of sensibility)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Barely able to be perceived
Example:
an almost insensible change
Synonyms:
indiscernible; insensible; undetectable
Classified under:
Similar:
imperceptible; unperceivable (impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Incapable of physical sensation
Example:
insensible earth
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
anaesthetic; anesthetic (characterized by insensibility)
asleep; benumbed; numb (lacking sensation)
Also:
incognizant; unaware ((often followed by 'of') not aware)
unconscious (not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead)
insensitive (not responsive to physical stimuli)
insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)
Antonym:
sensible (able to feel or perceive)
Derivation:
insensibility (a lack of sensibility)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Unaware of or indifferent to
Example:
insensible to the suffering around him
Synonyms:
insensible; unaffected
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)
Derivation:
insensibility (devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness)
Context examples:
I fainted once more, but again it could only have been for a very few minutes during which I was insensible.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Both of them were blue-lipped and insensible, with swollen, congested faces and protruding eyes.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Elizabeth looked expressively at Lydia; but she, who never heard nor saw anything of which she chose to be insensible, gaily continued, Oh! mamma, do the people hereabouts know I am married to-day?
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
It is you, only you, insensible Fanny, who can think of him with anything like indifference.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
His tall, gaunt, stringy figure is insensible to fatigue, and his dry, half-sarcastic, and often wholly unsympathetic manner is uninfluenced by any change in his surroundings.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Peggotty was quietly assisting, with the old insensible work-box, yard-measure, and bit of wax-candle before her, that had now outlived so much.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Since he actually was expected in the country, she must teach herself to be insensible on such points.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Harriet was not insensible of manner; she had voluntarily noticed her father's gentleness with admiration as well as wonder.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
No; you will continue the same; unconscious of the pleasure or the regret you occasion, and insensible of any change in those who walk under your shade!
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
He had deigned an explanation, almost an apology, and I did not feel insensible to his condescension, and would not seem so.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
