oversensitive

[ oh-ver-sen-si-tiv ]
See synonyms for oversensitive on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. excessively or unduly sensitive.

Origin of oversensitive

1
First recorded in 1840–50; over- + sensitive

Other words from oversensitive

  • o·ver·sen·si·tiv·i·ty, o·ver·sen·si·tive·ness, noun

Words Nearby oversensitive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use oversensitive in a sentence

  • Neither she nor her brothers understood their oversensitive relative.

    Against the Current | Edward A. Steiner
  • The rigorous altitude of intellect in which she was reared served as a corrective to the oversensitive quality of her imagination.

    Turn About Eleanor | Ethel M. Kelley
  • The whole self is oversensitive, and the very inflection of a voice has enormous significance.

  • Some, which I found had offended the oversensitive and irritable tempers of certain persons, I struck out.

  • In the debate as to whether there should be veal loaf or poached egg on hash, she had no chance to be heretical and oversensitive.

    Main Street | Sinclair Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for oversensitive

oversensitive

/ (ˌəʊvəˈsɛnsɪtɪv) /


adjective
  1. excessively responsive to or aware of feelings, reactions, etc

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