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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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desensitizesimple
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desensitizessimple
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have desensitizedperfect
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has desensitizedperfect
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am desensitizingprogressive
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are desensitizingprogressive
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is desensitizingprogressive
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have been desensitizingperfect progressive
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has been desensitizingperfect progressive
Past
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desensitizedsimple
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had desensitizedperfect
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was desensitizingprogressive
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were desensitizingprogressive
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had been desensitizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of desensitize
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."
Vocabulary lists containing desensitize
Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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This Week in Words: February 19 - 23, 2018
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The Running Dream
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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.
See Examples For:
“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
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
The pretreatment seemed to desensitize the animals to the hormone’s effects later on.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 13, 2023
“The perpetrators of this crime do so in the hope that it will harass and intimidate Jewish families, radicalize others, or desensitize some to the messaging,” the motion adds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 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)
“We hear stuff like this all the time. It just desensitizes you to there being an actual threat, knock on wood.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
“It desensitizes you to handcuffs, to steel, to concrete, to cold, to institutions,” said Roybal, now 38 and a physical therapist.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2023
In addition to killing cavity-causing bacteria, the treatment hardens tooth structure, desensitizes the tooth and even stops new cavities from forming.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 2020
Regional anesthesia desensitizes a large section of someone’s body by injecting drugs into the spine that block nerve signals to the brain.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2014
Nadeau desensitizes allergic kids to allergens through exposure.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2013
But Wall Street has become desensitized to the actual or attempted regulation of tech platforms, which have only continued to grow.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
When I asked Jemima why she felt she was able to consume all this graphic content, she recognized that at this time in her life she was deeply desensitized.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
Pepperstone strategist Michael Brown said markets appear to be “becoming increasingly desensitized to incoming geopolitical news flow” as the conflict drags on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
Reactions to other recent reports have been muted as well, with investors seemingly desensitized to Nvidia’s big numbers.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 23, 2026
Rowan hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now he understood; it stopped being gleaning the moment one became desensitized to the act.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Saturating audiences with doomsday stories risks desensitizing them, Nelson warned.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026
Doo-man can’t work to the best of his ability unless he eats, even if it means desensitizing himself to life’s gruesome truths.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2025
Skylar King, who’s performing at the show, said she had a week of long conversations with her fellow performers on how to joke about climate change without desensitizing people to the seriousness of the topic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024
Trainers begin by desensitizing the chimps to the sound, doling out bananas, Cheerios or other treats as it plays.
From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
But this morning I noticed a real improvement when I went through the massage and desensitizing routine.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
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.
