desensitize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to lessen the sensitiveness of.
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to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
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Photography. to make less sensitive or wholly insensitive to light, as the emulsion on a film.
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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.
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Chemistry. to reduce the sensitivity of (an explosive) to those stimuli capable of detonating it.
verb
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to render insensitive or less sensitive
the patient was desensitized to the allergen
to desensitize photographic film
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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
- desensitization noun
- desensitizer noun
Etymology
Origin of desensitize
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.
“One of the things that we teach them to do is to massage that over repeatedly throughout the day, to desensitize it,” April says.
From Slate • Oct. 15, 2024
"If we can increase levels of GDF15 before someone becomes pregnant, that might desensitize them, similar to how we try to desensitize people to allergens who have severe allergies," says Fejzo.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2024
For young children and people who have to take many different allergy medications, immunotherapies in the form of shots and oral drops can help desensitize the immune system to allergens, treating symptoms at their root.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2024
Fejzo says one way to turn the findings into a treatment might be to give GDF15 pre-pregnancy to help desensitize high-risk people to the hormone.
From Science Magazine • Dec. 13, 2023
Riding in the open air is better than not being in the open air at all, but it does not compare in its power to desensitize people with active exercise in the open air.
From Health Through Will Power by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
