desensitize

American  

[dee-sen-si-tahyz] / diˈsɛn sɪˌtaɪz /

especially British, desensitise

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.

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desensitize British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• desensitization
  noun
• desensitizer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of desensitize

First recorded in 1900–05; de- + sensitize

Explanation

To desensitize is to make less sensitive, or less easily upset. Some people say that watching scary movies desensitizes kids to violence. A shot of novocaine desensitizes you to the pain of having a cavity drilled by your dentist, and lots of spicy food can desensitize you to more subtle flavors. In both cases, you become less perceptive, or less affected by a sensation or taste. Witnessing violence can likewise desensitize soldiers or war reporters. The word originally referred to photographic development, from de-, "do the opposite of," and sensitize, with its Latin root sentire, "feel or perceive."

Related Words

• deaden