Dictionary

desensitize en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /-ətaɪz/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. ▸ To render (someone) emotionally or sensationally less responsive or irresponsive, as by long or repeated exposure to something.
   • […] child pornography is often used by pedophiles and child sexual abusers to stimulate and whet their own sexual appetites, and as a model for sexual acting out with children; such use of child pornography can desensitize the viewer to the pathology of sexual abuse or exploitation of children, so that it can become acceptable to and even preferred by the viewer;[…] 1997, Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1997, Washington, D.C.: United States Congress:
   • Working in an Operating Room desensitized me to the sight of blood.
2. (ambitransitive) To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. ▸ To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen.
3. (ambitransitive) To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. ▸ To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light.
4. (ambitransitive) To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. ▸ To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex.
5. (ambitransitive) To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of (someone) or in (something); to become insensitive. ▸ To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink.

Forms

Deriveds

desensitizer · nondesensitizing · desensitization · desensitizing

Synonyms

stupefy · deaden · benumb

Translations (19)

fi turruttaa (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · fi valottaa (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · es insensibilizar (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · fi siedättää (to an allergenic) (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · no desensitivisere (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · ru огрубить (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · pt insensibilizar (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · pt dessensibilizar (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · fr désensibiliser (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · ca insensibilitzar (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · es desensibilizar (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · fi tehdä tunnottomaksi (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · fi totuttaa (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · ro desensibiliza (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · de desensibilisieren (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · sv avtrubba (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · ru огрублять (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · ru охладеть (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something)) · de abstumpfen (render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something))