verb (used with object), de·sen·si·tized, de·sen·si·tiz·ing. to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
Photography to make less sensitive or wholly insensitive to light, as the emulsion on a film. 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.
Chemistry to reduce the sensitivity of (an explosive) to those stimuli capable of detonating it. Also especially British de·sen·si·tise .
Origin of desensitize First recorded in
1900–05; de- +
sensitize Related forms de·sen·si·tiz·er , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for desensitized Contemporary Examples of desensitized Perhaps they were wary of each other, or too desensitized to connect on any level.
In the border region, “drug trafficking is such a normal activity that people are so desensitized to it,” he said.
But some do wonder if popular culture has desensitized people to the very real consequences of violence.
To me, these are just a bunch of pictures taken by desensitized soldiers screwing around.
How do we take people who are jaded, desensitized , and make them care about crime?
Historical Examples of desensitized His impressions are transferred to the desensitized plate of Mr. Hennessy's mind, where they can do no harm.
Her desensitized and asphalt palate thrills and throbs beneath the tricklings of Cordon Rouge.
British Dictionary definitions for desensitized verb (tr) to render insensitive or less sensitive the patient was desensitized to the allergen ; to desensitize photographic film
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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Derived Forms desensitization or desensitisation , noun desensitizer or desensitiser , noun 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
Word Origin and History for desensitized v. 1904; see de- "do the opposite of" + sensitize . Originally of photography development; psychological sense is first recorded 1935. Related: Desensitized ; desensitizing .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
desensitize [dē-sĕn′ sĭ-tīz′]
v. To render insensitive or less sensitive, as a nerve or tooth.
To make an individual nonreactive or insensitive to an antigen.
To make a person emotionally insensitive or unresponsive, as by long exposure or repeated shocks.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
