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View synonyms for desensitize

desensitize

[ dee-sen-si-tahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, de·sen·si·tized, de·sen·si·tiz·ing.
  1. to lessen the sensitiveness of.
  2. to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
  3. Photography. to make less sensitive or wholly insensitive to light, as the emulsion on a film.
  4. Printing. to treat (the design on a lithographic plate) with an etch in order to increase the capacity to retain moisture, and to remove traces of grease.
  5. Chemistry. to reduce the sensitivity of (an explosive) to those stimuli capable of detonating it.


desensitize

/ diːˈsɛnsɪˌtaɪz /

verb

  1. to render insensitive or less sensitive

    to desensitize photographic film

    the patient was desensitized to the allergen

  2. psychol to decrease the abnormal fear in (a person) of a situation or object, by exposing him to it either in reality or in his imagination


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Derived Forms

  • deˈsensiˌtizer, noun
  • deˌsensitiˈzation, noun

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Other Words From

  • de·sensi·tizer noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of desensitize1

First recorded in 1900–05; de- + sensitize

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desensitizationDeseret