unresponsive
adjective
un·re·spon·sive
ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv 
: not responsive
The patient was unresponsive.
an infection unresponsive to antibiotics
an unresponsive bureaucracy
Although they are able to locate their own food at two weeks of age, fledgling robins will still piteously beg handouts from their increasingly unresponsive father.—
Millard H. Sharp
unresponsively
adverb
staring unresponsively
unresponsiveness
noun
Examples of unresponsive in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Victoria was found unresponsive at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel early on New Year’s Day this year, hours after allegedly using cocaine, and was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
—Jami Ganz, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Sunday, someone reported finding a person — later identified as You — unresponsive on a road in the area of North Greensview Drive and Park Meadows Road, a residential community west of Otay Lakes.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
When he was taken off his bed after being found unresponsive, officials reportedly found a pill that was identified as Vraylar, the report said.
—Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 13 Jan. 2026
Nurses pounce in to start CPR on unresponsive patients across the country every day.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 13 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Unresponsive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unresponsive. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
Medical Definition
unresponsive
adjective
un·re·spon·sive
ˌən-ri-ˈspän(t)-siv
: not responsive (as to a stimulus or treatment)
an unresponsive ulcer
unresponsiveness
noun
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