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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

desensitize.

To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive.

11 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/-ətaɪz/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. To render (someone) emotionally or sensationally less responsive or irresponsive, as by long or repeated exposure to something.

    ambitransitive
    Working in an Operating Room desensitized me to the sight of blood.
  2. To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen.

    ambitransitive
  3. To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light.

    ambitransitive
  4. To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex.

    ambitransitive
  5. To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink.

    ambitransitive
Where this word comes from

From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.