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sensitive - 6 dictionary results

sen⋅si⋅tive

  [sen-si-tiv]
Use sensitive in a Sentence
–adjective
1. endowed with sensation; having perception through the senses.
2. readily or excessively affected by external agencies or influences.
3. having acute mental or emotional sensibility; aware of and responsive to the feelings of others.
4. easily pained, annoyed, etc.
5. pertaining to or connected with the senses or sensation.
6. Physiology. having a low threshold of sensation or feeling.
7. responding to stimuli, as leaves that move when touched.
8. highly responsive to certain agents, as photographic plates, films, or paper.
9. affected or likely to be affected by a specified stimulus (used in combination): price-sensitive markets.
10. involving work, duties, or information of a highly secret or delicate nature, esp. in government: a sensitive position in the State Department.
11. requiring tact or caution; delicate; touchy: a sensitive topic.
12. constructed to indicate, measure, or be affected by small amounts or changes, as a balance or thermometer.
13. Radio. easily affected by external influences, esp. by radio waves.
–noun
14. a person who is sensitive.
15. a person with psychic powers; medium.
Origin:
1350–1400; < ML sēnsitīvus, irreg. formation on L sēns-, ptp. s. of sentīre to sense (see -ive ); r. ME sensitif(e) < MF sensitif, sensitive < ML, as above

Related forms:
sen⋅si⋅tive⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sen·si·tive   (sěn'sĭ-tĭv)   
adj.  
  1. Capable of perceiving with a sense or senses.
  2. Responsive to external conditions or stimulation.
  3. Susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others.
  4. Quick to take offense; touchy.
  5. Easily irritated: sensitive skin.
  6. Readily altered by the action of an agent: film that is sensitive to light.
  7. Registering very slight differences or changes of condition. Used of an instrument.
  8. Fluctuating or tending to fluctuate, as in price: sensitive stocks.
  9. Of or relating to classified information: sensitive defense data; holds a sensitive position in the State Department.
n.  
  1. A sensitive person.
  2. One held to be endowed with psychic or occult powers.

[Middle English, from Old French sensitif, from Medieval Latin sēnsitīvus, from Latin sēnsus, sense; see sense.]
sen'si·tive·ly adv., sen'si·tive·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sensitive

Sen"si*tive\, a. [F. sensitif. See Sense.]

1. Having sense of feeling; possessing or exhibiting the capacity of receiving impressions from external objects; as, a sensitive soul.

2. Having quick and acute sensibility, either to the action of external objects, or to impressions upon the mind and feelings; highly susceptible; easily and acutely affected.

She was too sensitive to abuse and calumny. --Macaulay.

3. (a) (Mech.) Having a capacity of being easily affected or moved; as, a sensitive thermometer; sensitive scales. (b) (Chem. & Photog.) Readily affected or changed by certain appropriate agents; as, silver chloride or bromide, when in contact with certain organic substances, is extremely sensitive to actinic rays.

4. Serving to affect the sense; sensible. [R.]

A sensitive love of some sensitive objects. --Hammond.

5. Of or pertaining to sensation; depending on sensation; as, sensitive motions; sensitive muscular motions excited by irritation. --E. Darwin.

Sensitive fern (Bot.), an American fern (Onoclea sensibilis), the leaves of which, when plucked, show a slight tendency to fold together.

Sensitive flame (Physics), a gas flame so arranged that under a suitable adjustment of pressure it is exceedingly sensitive to sounds, being caused to roar, flare, or become suddenly shortened or extinguished, by slight sounds of the proper pitch.

Sensitive joint vetch (Bot.), an annual leguminous herb ([AE]schynomene hispida), with sensitive foliage.

Sensitive paper, paper prepared for photographic purpose by being rendered sensitive to the effect of light.

Sensitive plant. (Bot.) (a) A leguminous plant (Mimosa pudica, or M. sensitiva, and other allied species), the leaves of which close at the slightest touch. (b) Any plant showing motions after irritation, as the sensitive brier (Schrankia) of the Southern States, two common American species of Cassia (C. nictitans, and C. Cham[ae]crista), a kind of sorrel (Oxalis sensitiva), etc. -- Sen"si*tive*ly, adv. -- Sen"si*tive*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sensitive
Spanish: sensible, delicado,
German: empfindlich,
Japanese: 感じやすい
More Translations »

sensitive 
c.1400, "having the function of sensation," from M.Fr. sensitif (13c.), from M.L. sensitivus "capable of sensation," from L. sensus, pp. of sentire "feel perceive" (see sense). Meaning "easily affected" (with ref. to mental feelings) first recorded 1816; meaning "having intense physical sensation" is from 1849. Original meaning is preserved in sensitive plant (1633). Meaning "involving national security" is recorded from 1953. Sensitivity training is first attested 1954. Sensitize first recorded 1856, originally in photography; of persons from 1880.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: sen·si·tive
Pronunciation: 'sen(t)-s&t-iv, 'sen(t)-stiv
Function: adjective
1 : SENSORY 2 <sensitive nerves>
2 a : receptive to sense impressions b : capable ofbeing stimulated or excited by external agents (as light, gravity, or contact) sensitive to red light> <sensitive protoplasm>
3 : highly responsive or susceptible: as a : easily hurt or damaged <sensitive skin>; especially : easily hurt emotionally b : excessively orabnormally susceptible : HYPERSENSITIVE <sensitive to egg protein> c : capable ofindicating minute differences <sensitive scales> d : readily affected or changed by various agents (as light or mechanical shock) sensitive colloid> —sen·si·tive·ness noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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sensitive sen·si·tive (sěn'sĭ-tĭv)
adj.

  1. Capable of perceiving with a sense or senses.
  2. Responsive to a stimulus.
  3. Susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others.
  4. Easily irritated or inflamed, especially due to previous exposure to an antigen.
  5. Relating to, or characterizing a sensitized antigen.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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