desensitize
/diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/verb
desensitize is a verb meaning “To render (someone) emotionally or sensationally less responsive or irresponsive, as by long or repeated exposure to something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled D-E-S-E-N-S-I-T-I-Z-E and has 4 syllables, and it appears about once in every 15 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does desensitize mean?
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To render (a person or animal) nonreactive or insensitive to an allergen.
- 3
To render (a photographic plate or film) less sensitive or insensitive to actinic rays of light.
- 4
To free (someone) from the emotional charge of a neurosis or complex.
- 5
To make non-image portions of (a lithographic stone or plate) repellent to ink.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce desensitize?
- US /diːˈsɛnsɪtaɪz/
- US /-ətaɪz/
Desensitize has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-desensitize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of desensitize
- desensitizes present, singular, he/she/it
- desensitizing participle, present
- desensitized participle, past
- desensitise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is desensitize?
Desensitize appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Desensitize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense render emotionally less sensitive or insensitive (to something):
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | désensibiliser |
| German | desensibilisieren, abstumpfen |
| Portuguese | dessensibilizar, insensibilizar |
| Spanish | desensibilizar, insensibilizar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does desensitize come from?
From de- (“not, do the opposite of, undo”) + sensitize. First attested in the 1900s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).