desensitize

verb

de·​sen·​si·​tize (ˌ)dē-ˈsen(t)-sə-ˌtīz 

desensitized; desensitizing; desensitizes

transitive verb

1

: to make (a sensitized or hypersensitive individual) insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent

2

: to make emotionally insensitive or callous

specifically : to extinguish an emotional response (as of fear, anxiety, or guilt) to stimuli that formerly induced it

desensitization

(ˌ)dē-ˌsen(t)-sə-tə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

desensitizer

(ˌ)dē-ˈsen-sə-ˌtī-zər 

noun

Did you know?

Physical desensitizing is something that biologists have long been aware of. Basic training in the armed forces tries to desensitize new recruits to pain. We can desensitize ourselves to the summer heat by turning off the air conditioning, or become desensitized to the cold by walking barefoot in the snow. But desensitize is more often used when talking about negative emotions. Parents worry that their children will be desensitized to violence by playing video games. Soldiers may become desensitized to death on the battlefield. Desensitizing may be natural and desirable under some circumstances, but maybe not so good in others.

Examples of desensitize in a Sentence

The shot will help to desensitize the nerve.

Recent Examples on the Web

Each horse is trained for several months at the Household Cavalry Training Wing in Windsor and the Hyde Park Barracks in London, which includes both basic training and riding the horses through the streets to desensitize them to loud noises, cars, and people. —Rebecca Schneid, TIME, 14 June 2024

As the number of lives at risk increases, psychic numbing begins to desensitize us. —Rose McDermott, Foreign Affairs, 30 May 2023

The intent is to suck the air out of the defense’s attacks and desensitize the jury to Mr. Cohen’s baggage, turning him into an object of amusement. —William K. Rashbaum, New York Times, 12 May 2024

The community seems wary about the country’s civil conflict, but also roundly desensitized by decades of sporadic, bloody attacks. —J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 28 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

desensitize

transitive verb

de·​sen·​si·​tize

variants also British desensitise

(ˈ)dē-ˈsen(t)-sə-ˌtīz 

desensitized also British desensitised; desensitizing also British desensitising

: to make less sensitive : reduce sensitivity in

desensitize a nerve with a local anesthetic

: as

a

: to make (a sensitized or hypersensitive individual) insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent

b

: to extinguish an emotional response (as of fear, anxiety, or guilt) to stimuli which formerly induced it : make emotionally insensitive

evidence that violence on television desensitizes children to actual violence

—Stephanie Harrington

c

: to decrease a response (as of a cell receptor) progressively following prolonged exposure to a stimulus

formation of cAMP was reduced significantly in desensitized cells and remained low in the continuous presence of agonist

—S. M. Nilius et al.

desensitization noun

also British desensitisation

(ˌ)dē-ˌsen-sət-ə-ˈzā-shən, -ˌsen-stə-ˈzā-