unsense

U1N1S1E1N1S1E1

noun

Lack or absence of sense; senselessness; nonsense.

OriginEnglish sense ← Middle English sense ← Old French sens →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

unsense1

noununsense (uncountable)
  1. uncountableLack or absence of sense; senselessness; nonsense.

    It is a matter of pressing to the threshold of sense, where unsense is simply the nascent becoming-sense of sense […]

    1990, Pat Bigelow, The conning, the cunning of being
    2 more examples

    The capacity to receive and be disposed to (be affected by) sense turns on how a given particular time calls for what makes “unsense, unsense and no-longer-sense” […]

    2009, Nancy Diekelmann, John Diekelmann, Schooling Learning Teaching

    Mary-Ann Caws seeks to explicate the term as follows: 'forcene/for-sene - unsensed by genius but not senseless; for unsense has in it the peculiar echo of an incense. . .something is consecrated here. . .sense is not simply lost... it is gravely undone […]

    2010, Jones Irwin, Derrida and the Writing of the Body

unsense2

verbunsense (third-person singular simple present unsenses, present participle unsensing, simple past and past participle unsensed)

present singular third person unsenses · participle present unsensing · participle past unsensed · past unsensed

  1. transitiveTo remove or deprive of the senses; cause to be insensible.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
senselessness

Origin

unsense · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*sent-
  9. Proto-Italic*sentiō
  10. Latinsentiō
  11. Latinsēnsu
  12. Proto-Germanic*sinnaz
  13. Frankish*sinn
  14. Vulgar Latin*sennus
  15. Old Frenchsens
  16. Middle Englishsense
  17. Englishsense
  18. Englishunsense

From un- (“absence of, lack of”) + sense.

Full word history & related roots →

unsense · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Germanic*anda-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*anda-
  5. Old Englishand-
  6. Old Englishon-
  7. Middle Englishon-
  8. Englishun-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*sent-
  10. Proto-Italic*sentiō
  11. Latinsentiō
  12. Latinsēnsu
  13. Proto-Germanic*sinnaz
  14. Frankish*sinn
  15. Vulgar Latin*sennus
  16. Old Frenchsens
  17. Middle Englishsense
  18. Englishsense
  19. Englishunsense

From un- (“reversal, removal”) + sense. Distant cognate with German entsinnen (“to reflect”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

unsense. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsense

MLA

“unsense.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsense. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unsense,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unsense.

Source: unsense on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.