desensitise

IPA/ˌdiːˈsen.sɪ.taɪz/
IPA/ˌdiːˈsen.sə.taɪz/

desensitise — verb

  • desensitisepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • desensitises3rd person singular
  • desensitising-ing form
  • desensitisedpast simple

1. to make a person feel an emotion such as fear, sadness, or shock less powerfully

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to make a person feel an emotion such as fear, sadness, or shock less powerfully, usually because they have seen or experienced it many times

Example

Ryo became so desensitised to violent images that he no longer flinched during action films.

passive: become desensitised to [stimulus]

Amira worried that working in the emergency room would desensitise her to the suffering of others.

desensitise + object + to + noun

Common collocations
  • desensitise someone to violence
  • desensitise someone to suffering
  • become desensitised to
  • get desensitised to
  • desensitise someone to pain
  • desensitise someone to fear
Synonyms
  • numb

    less formal, often used for both physical and emotional sensation

  • deaden

    more formal, often emphasises a complete loss of feeling

  • harden

    implies becoming tough or resilient through repeated exposure, sometimes with a neutral connotation

Antonyms
  • sensitise

    direct opposite — to make someone more responsive or reactive to something

Grammar Patterns

desensitise + object + to + noun/gerund

become/get + desensitised + to + noun/gerund

Usage Note

Frequently used in passive constructions with 'become' or 'get'. The stimulus that causes reduced sensitivity is introduced by the preposition 'to'.

Common Mistakes

The war desensitised the soldiers.
The war desensitised the soldiers to violence.
'desensitise' needs a 'to' phrase to specify what someone becomes less sensitive to.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All three words describe a reduction in sensitivity, but they differ in register, scope, and connotation. 'Desensitise' is the most precise term for the psychological process of losing emotional responsiveness through repeated exposure — it is the standard choice in clinical and educational contexts. 'Numb' is more informal and can describe both physical (the cold numbed my fingers) and emotional (she felt numb after the news) loss of feeling. 'Deaden' is more formal and suggests a complete, often deliberate, removal of sensation, frequently used in physical or medical contexts (drugs that deaden the pain). 'Harden' has a neutral-to-positive connotation of becoming emotionally tougher, often through life experience (the years abroad had hardened him to discomfort). For describing the gradual loss of sensitivity caused by overexposure to violence or suffering, 'desensitise' is the most natural and accurate choice.

numb ↗deadenharden ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • become desensitised to
  • get desensitised to

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed from the prefix 'de-' (meaning 'remove' or 'reverse') attached to 'sensitise' (to make sensitive). The word first appeared in the late 19th century in photography, where it described making photographic plates less sensitive to light, before extending to physiology and eventually to psychological and emotional contexts in the 20th century.

First known use

1912

1912, in the meaning defined at sense 1