INSENSIBILITY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does insensibility mean? 

• INSENSIBILITY (noun)
  The noun INSENSIBILITY has 2 senses:

1. a lack of sensibility

2. devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness

  Familiarity information: INSENSIBILITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSENSIBILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A lack of sensibility

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("insensibility" is a kind of...):

unconsciousness (a state lacking normal awareness of the self or environment)

Antonym:

sensibility (mental responsiveness and awareness)

Derivation:

insensible (unresponsive to stimulation)

insensible (incapable of physical sensation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

callosity; callousness; hardness; insensibility; unfeelingness

Hypernyms ("insensibility" is a kind of...):

insensitiveness; insensitivity (the inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "insensibility"):

dullness (lack of sensibility)

Derivation:

insensible (unaware of or indifferent to)

 Context examples 

Down that staircase she had perhaps been conveyed in a state of well-prepared insensibility!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Each instant he seemed as though he would open his eyes and speak; but then would follow a prolonged stertorous breath, and he would relapse into a more fixed insensibility.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The lady, against whom naturally the strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, still in a state of insensibility.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Very frequently were they reproached for this insensibility by Kitty and Lydia, whose own misery was extreme, and who could not comprehend such hard-heartedness in any of the family.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

You have, undoubtedly; and there are situations in which very high spirits would denote insensibility.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A horrible doubt came into my mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, or who would venture to set him free.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This had been a proof of life, however, of service to her sister; and Henrietta, though perfectly incapable of being in the same room with Louisa, was kept, by the agitation of hope and fear, from a return of her own insensibility.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

With Mr. Weston's ball in view at least, there had been a great deal of insensibility to other things; but it was now too evident that she had not attained such a state of composure as could stand against the actual approach—new carriage, bell-ringing, and all.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Dutch Sam thrust the brandy-bladder between his teeth, while Mendoza shook him savagely and howled insults in his ear, but neither the spirits nor the sense of injury could break into that serene insensibility.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Being sure that no one could do it so well as herself, she went straight to Mr. Laurence, told the hard story bravely through, and then broke down, crying so dismally over her own insensibility that the kind old gentleman, though sorely disappointed, did not utter a reproach.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)