Insensitivity

noun

noun ·6 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The condition of being insensitive uncountable, usually

    "To make matters worse, you did not publish the news note until 5 days before the conference — even though we had submitted it enough in advance to have been included in the previous weeks' paper. This showed a great insensitivity to the fact that lesbians with children are often not very mobile or flexible...We need that kind of advance notice in order to plan an all-day conference on a Saturday!"

  2. 2
    the inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
analgesiaanesthesiaapathyarmorbad mannerscaddishness

Example

More examples

"The queen took umbrage at remarks made in the press about her insensitivity to the death of the princess."

Etymology

From in- + sensitivity.

Related phrases

androgen insensitivity syndromecomplete androgen insensitivity syndromecongenital insensitivity to pain

More for "insensitivity"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.