a non-responsive

USAGE SUMMARY

"a non-responsive" is correct and usable in written English. You can use it to describe something or someone that does not respond or react as expected. Example: "The system was deemed a non-responsive entity during the test." Alternative expressions include "unresponsive" and "inactive."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

31 human-written examples

This possibility then leads to the question how often innovation, defined as gain of stress responsiveness from a non-responsive ancestral gene, occurred in green algae.

BMC Genomics

The joy of being able to communicate with him was soured by the knowledge that his awareness of being imprisoned in a non-responsive body would only bring him pain.

The Guardian - Lifestyle

The positively charged cationic hydrogel microparticles were embedded/dispersed into another hydrogel matrix to render responsive behavior to a non-responsive matrix.

Polymer

Compared with a non-responsive nanotherapy based on poly(lactide-co-glycolide), treatment with either pH- or ROS-responsive nanotherapy by i.v. injection more effectively attenuated neointimal hyperplasia in a rat model of arterial restenosis.

Biomaterials

In this study, we present a pH-responsive scaffold that increases oxygen transport, as confirmed by our finite element model analysis, and cell proliferation relative to a non-responsive scaffold.

Biomaterials

With a grant from USAID's Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge for Development, her team took that device to Malawi, where they had it on hand when a non-responsive infant girl arrived at a local hospital.

Forbes

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

29 human-written examples

To uphold the rhetorical thrust of Trump's notorious "Not a puppet" non-responsive response has political implications that can be exploited for opposite and oppositional ends.

University of Chicago

"In the old days," Blake acknowledges, the police response would have been to "bar the gates, don't say anything". Instead, he met with the family, explained why his officers saw a threat in a hooded, non-responsive man, hands at his waist, reactions hard to discern.

Los Angeles Times

The "bad attitude" of this resistant pledge made him a target, the brothers later told police after hours of panic, hiding fraternity gear and trying to get their stories straight over how and why a 19-year-old was bludgeoned into a wheezing, non-responsive body as the result of a hazing ritual in the Pocono mountains.

The Guardian

The doctor stopped the interaction with the patient and the patient minimized her response to the situation (not by going into a "freeze position" but by taking a general non-responsive position).

BMC Medical Education

This pilot study assesses the value of quantitation of metabolic rate of glucose (MRGlu) measured in mmol min−1ml−1to assess early subclinical response to therapy in a relatively non-responsive tumour.

British Journal of Cancer

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "a" as the indefinite article because the sound following it is a consonant sound (n).

Common error

Do not use the indefinite article "an" with "non-responsive". While you would use "an unresponsive" because it begins with a vowel sound, "non-responsive" starts with a consonant sound and requires "a".

Linguistic Context

The phrase "a non-responsive" functions as a noun phrase component, consisting of an indefinite article followed by a compound adjective. In the examples provided by Ludwig, it consistently modifies a following noun (such as "patient", "system", or "genotype"). Ludwig AI confirms that this construction is standard and helps categorize an entity by its failure to react.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

Science

65%

News & Media

20%

Wiki

10%

Less common in

Academia

3%

Formal & Business

1%

Social Media

1%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "a non-responsive" is a versatile and grammatically correct adjective phrase used to describe entities that fail to provide a reaction. According to Ludwig AI, it is particularly prominent in the fields of medicine, biology, and technology, where precise classification of behavior is required. Unlike its synonym "an unresponsive", the hyphenated form "non-responsive" is favored in formal scientific reporting for its objective tone. Writers should be careful to use the article "a" rather than "an" and ensure the hyphen is present when modifying a noun. Overall, it is a robust, professional choice for technical and journalistic writing.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

an unresponsive

Uses the more standard English prefix un- instead of non- for the same meaning

a nonreactive

Specifies a lack of reaction rather than a failure to respond to a prompt

an inert

Suggests a complete lack of chemical or physical activity

a passive

Implies an entity that receives action without reacting or resisting

a silent

Often used in technology to describe an entity that provides no feedback

a dead

Informal or technical term for a completely non-functioning system

a frozen

Specifically refers to a temporary state of unresponsiveness in software

an immobile

Focuses on the lack of physical movement rather than communication

a non-acting

Emphasizes the failure to perform a specific function

an apathetic

Attribute to a person, implying a psychological lack of interest

FAQs

Is it correct to use "a non-responsive" in medical reports?

Yes, it is highly appropriate. As seen in Ludwig, medical journals frequently use the phrase to describe "a non-responsive patient" or biological systems that fail to react to treatment.

Should I use "a non-responsive" or "unresponsive"?

Both are correct. While "unresponsive" is more common in general English, "a non-responsive" is often used in scientific contexts to denote a neutral lack of reaction. You might prefer "an unresponsive" for better flow in literary writing.

Does "a non-responsive" need a hyphen?

Yes, when it is used as a compound modifier before a noun (e.g., "a non-responsive system"), a hyphen is standard to link the prefix to the adjective.

What is a professional alternative to "a non-responsive"?

Depending on the context, you can use "a nonreactive" for chemical or biological subjects, or "an inactive" for mechanical or digital systems.