desensitize

especially British, de·sen·si·tise

[dee-sen-si-tahyz]

verb (used with object)

desensitized, desensitizing 

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

   the patient was desensitized to the allergen

   to desensitize photographic film

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

Other Word Forms

• desensitizer noun
• desensitization noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of desensitize¹

First recorded in 1900–05; de- + sensitize

Example Sentences

Fuchs hopes viewers also recognize the ways that fear desensitizes Derry townsfolk to the horrors in their midst.

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With true crime’s popularity dramatically increasing over the last 15 years, audiences have become increasingly desensitized.

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Investors have become desensitized to risk as the 2008-09 financial crisis fades from memory, Block believes.

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Mollner and Lawrence keep the story locked on the boys, never elaborating on this desensitizing idea but continuing to show us the dehumanizing torture they endure.

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I don’t want to say that’s right or wrong, but from what I’m seeing, a lot of people have become desensitized to violence.

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Related Words

• deaden