desensitize
/diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/ verb
Forms desensitizes desensitizing desensitized desensitise
- verb To render (someone) emotionally or sensationally less responsive or irresponsive, as by long or repeated exposure to something. “Working in an Operating Room desensitized me to the sight of blood.”
- verb To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen.
- verb (photography) To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light.
- verb (psychiatry) To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex.
- verb (printing) To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “desensitize”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details