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Glite Dictionary
⚡ To make responsive 📸 To make light-sensitive
to sensitize

to sensitize

5 6.1
Make a person more likely to react to something like an allergen or idea
  • verb
  • /ˈsɛn.sɪ.taɪz/
: sensibilizar
  • Doctors are working to sensitize patients to the symptoms of allergic reactions.
  • sensitize students
  • sensitized individuals
  • sensitized to this issue

And I think that in certain ways it'll have made us hyper sensitized to fear.

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Examples

  • Strategies are available to sensitize teachers to concepts involved in cross-cultural interaction.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Marcus Zusak's excellent book sensitizes students to the potential of the written word to effect societal and personal change.

    Academic text (2015)

  • And so the public needs to be sensitized to what risk means here.

  • Studying and performing the music can sensitize students to different styles, as well as improve skills of comparison.

    Academic text (1993)

  • My class did become sensitized to gender issues, apparently beyond my initial expectations.

    Academic text (2000)

  • For example, the services conduct training to sensitize soldiers about racial, ethnic, and women's issues.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Television, radio, and Internet coverage of such events may have sensitized youth to violence and compromised their feelings of safety at school.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Several states have been sensitized to this issue and have taken legislative actions to remediate the situation.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Anthropology is a powerful subject because it changes people; it sensitizes them to other people and to others' cultures.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The 1-day program starts with a barefoot walk in which students become sensitized to previously unrecognized phenomena on the ground.

    Academic text (1998)

Synonyms

to oversensitize
vsto sensitize
1 8.0

To make someone or something too sensitive to things like light and noise

produces normal responsiveness without excessive reaction
to sensibilize
vsto sensitize
8.3

To make people more aware of a problem or idea

is about causing responsiveness to substances or issues rather than just awareness
to hypersensitize
vsto sensitize
  • Specialized
8.7

Make a person or animal react strongly to a substance

causes ordinary responsiveness rather than an abnormal overreaction

Antonyms

to desensitize
16 6.3

To make people and animals feel less strong reactions to pain, fear or loud sounds, often by repeated exposure

How Sensitive

to hypersensitize
  • Specialized
8.7
to sensitize
5 6.1

Surface Forms

sensitize infinitive
sensitized past
sensitized past participle
sensitizing present participle
sensitizes third person singular

Morphology

sensitize = sensitive (transparent) = sensit + ize

A general derivation meaning 'make sensitive' applied to persons or systems; the orthographic change is predictable and the semantics are direct.

Etymology

The word sensitize comes from the old root sens-, from sentire, meaning 'to feel', and the ending -ize meaning 'make'. So, to sensitize a person or group is to make them more able to 'feel' or notice an issue, or to make the body react to a substance, which is why it means 'make sensitive' or 'raise awareness'.