desensitize
verbUS, UK /diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/
Etymology From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.
› To reduce or eliminate the sensitivity of…
Ambitransitive 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.
- […] 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:
Ambitransitive To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen.
Arts, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Photography Ambitransitive To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light.
Human sciences, Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, Sciences Ambitransitive To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex.
Media, Printing, Publishing Ambitransitive To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink.
- Derived terms
- desensitization, desensitizer, desensitizing, nondesensitizing