hypersensitive

[hahy-per-sen-si-tiv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hypersensitive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

excessively sensitive: to be hypersensitive to criticism.

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

Origin of hypersensitive

First recorded in 1870–75; hyper- + sensitive

Related formshy·per·sen·si·tive·ness, hy·per·sen·si·tiv·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hypersensitive

tricky, precise, tense, keen, susceptible, nervous, receptive, conscious, touchy, perceptive, unstable, delicate, responsive, emotional, impatient, mercurial, petulant, ornery, capricious, headstrong

Examples from the Web for hypersensitive

Contemporary Examples of hypersensitive

Anyone who identifies as an ‘ist’ is going to be hypersensitive about some topics.
Louis C.K. on Daniel Tosh’s Rape Joke: Are Comedy and Feminism Enemies?
Jennifer L. Pozner
July 18, 2012
But the hyperactive Sarkozy is hypersensitive to these oft-repeated allegations of skullduggery.
A Wrench in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn Conspiracy Theory
Christopher Dickey
April 29, 2012
Certain to avoid talking politics in front of the hypersensitive cameras, Boehner opted for the more germane.
Boehner Has Eyes for Jill Biden
Daniel Stone
September 9, 2011
Seventeen years ago military leaders were hypersensitive to such a bold change in military culture.
Powell's Gay Soldier Dilemma
Gail Sheehy
February 5, 2010

Historical Examples of hypersensitive

It was no time for Clancy to be hypersensitive about Vandervent's honor.
Find the Woman
Arthur Somers Roche
A conscience newly aroused by her terrible tragedy and hypersensitive?
Clark's Field
Robert Herrick
He is hypersensitive and emotional, not argumentative and judicial.
Victor Hugo: His Life and Works
G. Barnett Smith
Radowitz, in all matters connected with money, was hypersensitive and touchy.
Lady Connie
Mrs. Humphry Ward
The bald stubby man waddling forward looked neither calloused nor hypersensitive.
The Trial of Callista Blake
Edgar Pangborn

British Dictionary definitions for hypersensitive

hypersensitive

adjective

having unduly vulnerable feelings

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

Derived Formshypersensitiveness or hypersensitivity, 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 hypersensitive

adj.

1827, a hybrid from hyper- + sensitive. Related: Hypersensitivity.

hypersensitive in Medicine

hypersensitive

[hī′pər-sĕn′sĭ-tĭv]

adj.

Responding excessively to the stimulus of a foreign agent, such as an allergen; abnormally sensitive.

Related formshy′per•sen′si•tive•ness null n.