desensitize

== English == === Alternative forms === desensitise (British) === Etymology === From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) +‎ sensitize. First attested in the 1900s. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/, /-ətaɪz/ === Verb === desensitize (third-person singular simple present desensitizes, present participle desensitizing, simple past and past participle desensitized) (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. Synonyms: (only sensationally) deaden, benumb, stupefy To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen. (photography) To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light. (psychiatry) To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex. (printing) To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink. ==== Usage notes ==== The Oxford English Dictionary notes that intransitive use of this verb is rare. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “desensitize, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024. Philip Babcock Gove et al., editors (1961), “desensitize”, in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged [...], volume I: A to G, Merriam-Webster Inc., →ISBN, page 610; republished Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1981, →ISBN “desensitize”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN: “To make emotionally insensitive or unresponsive, as by long exposure or repeated shocks […]” William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “sensitize”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC: “[…] to render capable of being acted on by actinic rays of light […]” “sensitize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC: “To render […] susceptible of being easily acted on by the actinic rays of the sun […]” === Further reading === “desensitize”, in Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present