hyposensitize

IPA/hˌaɪpəʊsˈɛnsɪtˌaɪz/
IPA/hˌaɪpoʊsˈɛnsɪtˌaɪz/

hyposensitize — verb

  • hyposensitizepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • hyposensitizes3rd person singular
  • hyposensitizing-ing form
  • hyposensitizedpast simple

1. in medicine, to slowly make a person's body react less strongly to something the

1.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

in medicine, to slowly make a person's body react less strongly to something they are allergic to, usually by giving small repeated doses over months or years.

Example

Dr. Padma decided to hyposensitize Ezra against bee stings after his second emergency room visit.

hyposensitize + [person] + against + [allergen]

The clinic uses tiny weekly injections to hyposensitize children who react badly to grass pollen.

typical method: weekly injections to + hyposensitize + [patient group]

Common collocations
  • hyposensitize against
  • hyposensitize to
  • gradually hyposensitize
  • successfully hyposensitize
Synonyms
  • desensitize

    broader; covers both allergy treatment and general loss of sensitivity (e.g. emotional)

  • immunize

    prevents infection by a pathogen, not allergic reactions to harmless substances

Antonyms
  • sensitize

    to make someone react more strongly, the opposite of this medical process

Grammar Patterns

hyposensitize + [person] + (against/to + allergen)

Usage Note

Subject is usually a doctor, clinic, or treatment; object is the patient or, less often, the immune system. Often paired with 'against' or 'to' plus the allergen. British-leaning spelling 'hyposensitise' also appears.

Common Mistakes

The pollen hyposensitized me last spring.
The injections hyposensitized me to pollen last spring.
the allergen does not hyposensitize the patient; the treatment does.

Word family

  • hyposensitization
    nounC2
  • hyposensitive
    adjectiveC2
  • sensitize
    verbC1
  • desensitize
    verbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All three verbs describe medical procedures that change how the body responds to outside substances, but they target very different problems. 'Hyposensitize' is the most specialised: it names the allergy-treatment process of giving repeated tiny doses of an allergen so the immune system gradually stops over-reacting to it. 'Desensitize' covers the same allergy work but is broader, also used outside medicine for any loss of sensitivity, including emotional numbing. 'Immunize' and 'vaccinate' are clinical cousins, but they aim to build up protection against an infectious agent like measles or flu, not to calm a misfiring allergic response. Doctors immunize a child against a virus, but hyposensitize the same child against pollen.

desensitize ↗immunizevaccinate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a course of injections to hyposensitize
  • a programme designed to hyposensitize patients

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Formed in early twentieth-century medical English by joining the Greek prefix 'hypo-' meaning 'under' or 'less' with the verb 'sensitize'. The word entered allergy clinics as practitioners began deliberately lowering a patient's immune reaction by repeated controlled exposure to the trigger substance.