Adjective

(en adjective)

Unable to be perceived by the senses.

* Sir Thomas Browne

Two small and almost insensible pricks were found upon Cleopatra's arm.

* Dryden

They fall away, / And languish with insensible decay.

Incapable or deprived of physical sensation.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] Captain Markam had been found lying half-insensible , gagged and bound, on the floor of the sitting-room, his hands and feet tightly pinioned, and a woollen comforter wound closely round his mouth and neck?; whilst Mrs. Markham's jewel-case, containing valuable jewellery and the secret plans of Port Arthur, had disappeared. […]”}}

Unable to be understood; unintelligible.

Not sensible or reasonable; meaningless.

* Sir M. Hale

If it make the indictment be insensible or uncertain, it shall be quashed.

Incapable of mental feeling; indifferent.

* Dryden

Lost in their loves, insensible of shame.

* Sir H. Wotton

Accept an obligation without being a slave to the giver, or insensible to his kindness.

* 1813 , Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice , Modern Library Edition (1995), page 138

In spite of her deep-rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man's affection...

Incapable of emotional feeling; callous; apathetic.

Adjective

(en adjective)

(lb) Empty, vacant.

Not turned to appropriate use; not occupied.

:

Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing.

:

*

*:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.

Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

:

*

*:“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle , brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,!”

Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

:

(lb) Light-headed; foolish.

:(Ford)