desensitize
to lessen the sensitiveness of.
to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
Photography. to make less sensitive or wholly insensitive to light, as the emulsion on a film.
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.
Chemistry. to reduce the sensitivity of (an explosive) to those stimuli capable of detonating it.
Origin of desensitize
1- Also especially British, de·sen·si·tise .
Other words from desensitize
- de·sen·si·tiz·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use desensitize in a sentence
The memes of 2020 reflected an internet that has become desensitized to the burning house around it and the phrase “this is fine” is more of a plea than a resignation.
Experts also say the months-long pandemic created a weariness and potentially desensitized people to the serious of the threat, a psychological state often called “covid fatigue.”
Maryland’s coronavirus numbers are going up. Here’s what you need to know. | Erin Cox | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostWe’ve become desensitized to positive tests in sports with young and healthy athletes, but this is a grim reminder that the disease is so dangerous, no matter the age of the person it hits.
Are Bad NFL Defenses Breaking Win Probability Models? | Sara Ziegler (sara.ziegler@fivethirtyeight.com) | October 26, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightFor the broader public, it matters that we have become desensitized to the loss of some lives and value them less than others.
The Post-Brown and Garner Question: Who ‘Deserves’ to Die? | Goldie Taylor | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNigerians have become desensitized to suffering, I was repeatedly told during my time in Lagos.
Perhaps they were wary of each other, or too desensitized to connect on any level.
For the Cleveland Kidnapping Victims, a Tragic Sisterhood | Christine Pelisek | May 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the border region, “drug trafficking is such a normal activity that people are so desensitized to it,” he said.
At Mexican Border, Four in Five Drug Busts Involve American Citizens | Andrew Becker, G. W. Schulz, Tia Ghose | March 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut some do wonder if popular culture has desensitized people to the very real consequences of violence.
Her desensitized and asphalt palate thrills and throbs beneath the tricklings of Cordon Rouge.
Europe After 8:15 | H. L. Mencken, George Jean Nathan and Willard Huntington WrightHis impressions are transferred to the desensitized plate of Mr. Hennessy's mind, where they can do no harm.
Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War | Finley Peter DunneTwo years of war had cumulatively desensitized them to thrills.
My Second Year of the War | Frederick Palmer
British Dictionary definitions for desensitize
desensitise
/ (diːˈsɛnsɪˌtaɪz) /
to render insensitive or less sensitive: the patient was desensitized to the allergen; to desensitize photographic film
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
Derived forms of desensitize
- desensitization or desensitisation, noun
- desensitizer or desensitiser, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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