verb (used with object), de·sen·si·tized, de·sen·si·tiz·ing.
- to lessen the sensitiveness of.
- to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
- Photography. to make less sensitive or wholly insensitive to light, as the emulsion on a film.
- Printing. to treat (the design on a lithographic plate) with an etch in order to increase the capacity to retain moisture, and to remove traces of grease.
- Chemistry. to reduce the sensitivity of (an explosive) to those stimuli capable of detonating it.
verb (tr)
- to render insensitive or less sensitivethe patient was desensitized to the allergen; to desensitize photographic film
- psychol to decrease the abnormal fear in (a person) of a situation or object, by exposing him to it either in reality or in his imagination
1904; see de- “do the opposite of” + sensitize. Originally of photography development; psychological sense is first recorded 1935. Related: Desensitized; desensitizing.
v.
- To render insensitive or less sensitive, as a nerve or tooth.
- To make an individual nonreactive or insensitive to an antigen.
- To make a person emotionally insensitive or unresponsive, as by long exposure or repeated shocks.