WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
de•sen•si•ti•za•tion
(dē sen′si tə zā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026- Psychiatrythe act or process of desensitizing.
- Medicine, Physiology[Physiol., Med.]the elimination or reduction of natural or acquired reactivity or sensitivity to an external stimulus, as an allergen.
- Psychiatry, Psychotherapya behavior modification technique, used esp. in treating phobias, in which panic or other undesirable emotional response to a given stimulus is reduced or extinguished, esp. by repeated exposure to that stimulus.
- desensitize + -ation 1920–25
de•sen•si•tize /diˈsɛnsɪˌtaɪz/USA pronunciation
v. [ ~ + obj], -tized, -tiz•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to lessen the sensitivity of:Constant noise can desensitize one's hearing.
- to make unfeeling or callous:citizens desensitized to the plight of the homeless.
de•sen•si•tize
(dē sen′si tīz′),USA pronunciation v.t., -tized, -tiz•ing.
de•sen′si•tiz′er, n.
- to lessen the sensitiveness of.
- to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.
- Photographyto make less sensitive or wholly insensitive to light, as the emulsion on a film.
- Printingto 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.
- Chemistryto reduce the sensitivity of (an explosive) to those stimuli capable of detonating it.
- de- + sensitize 1900–05
'desensitization' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):