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Desensitize
//diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz// verb
Definitions
Verb
- 1 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. ambitransitive
"Working in an Operating Room desensitized me to the sight of blood."
- 2 make insensitive wordnet
- 3 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. ambitransitive
- 4 cause not to be sensitive wordnet
- 5 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. ambitransitive
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- 6 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. ambitransitive
- 7 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. ambitransitive
Etymology
From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.
See also for "desensitize"
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