sensitivity
Americannoun
plural
sensitivities-
the state or quality of being sensitive; sensitiveness.
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Physiology.
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the ability of an organism or part of an organism to react to stimuli; irritability.
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degree of susceptibility to stimulation.
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Electricity.
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the ability of a radio device to react to incoming signals, expressed as the minimum input signal required to produce a specified output signal with a given noise level.
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the input, as voltage, current, or the like, required to produce full deflection in an electric measuring device, expressed as the ratio of the response to the magnitude of the input quantity.
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noun
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the state or quality of being sensitive
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physiol the state, condition, or quality of reacting or being sensitive to an external stimulus, drug, allergen, etc
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electronics the magnitude or time of response of an instrument, circuit, etc, to an input signal, such as a current
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photog the degree of response of an emulsion to light or other actinic radiation, esp to light of a particular colour, expressed in terms of its speed
Related Words
See sensibility.
Other Word Forms
- antisensitivity noun
- nonsensitivity noun
Etymology
Origin of sensitivity
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.
The container terminals are located at the entrances of the waterway, a proximity that has long magnified their strategic sensitivity despite their formal separation from canal operations.
“Given the historic sensitivities involved, we are taking these allegations seriously,” he wrote.
From Los Angeles Times
This sensitivity makes quantum systems difficult to operate and even harder to expand.
From Science Daily
Because of this sensitivity, shifts in their populations can serve as early warning signs of ecological disruption.
From Science Daily
"All pre-2017 investments they thought would not attract tax are now at high risk of scrutiny," he says, declining to be named owing to the sensitivity of his clients.
From BBC
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.
