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Synonyms

hypersensitive

American  
[hahy-per-sen-si-tiv] / ˌhaɪ pərˈsɛn sɪ tɪv /

adjective

  1. excessively sensitive.

    to be hypersensitive to criticism.

  2. allergic to a substance to which persons do not normally react.


hypersensitive British  
/ ˌhaɪpəˈsɛnsɪtɪv /

adjective

  1. having unduly vulnerable feelings

  2. abnormally sensitive to an allergen, a drug, or other agent

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of hypersensitive

First recorded in 1870–75; hyper- + sensitive

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Psychologist Justin Barrett of the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology gave a name to the root of this tendency: Humans, he said, have a Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device.

From Slate • Jul. 23, 2015

Hypersensitive to personal danger, Gouzenko thereafter never appeared in public without disguising himself or covering his head with a bag.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hypersensitive to comparisons with Lear's, she feels her feature offerings can compete with Vanity Fair's and the New Yorker's.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hypersensitive Painter Wood scarcely bothered to refute the rumors.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hypersensitive from her convent upbringing she knew intuitively when he entered a room or left it.

From The Shadow of the East by Hull, E. M. (Edith Maude)

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