Insensitivity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A lack of awareness or consideration for the feelings, needs, or circumstances of others, often resulting in hurtful behavior
2. A failure to recognize and empathize with the emotional states or needs of others, which frequently leads to unintentional offense or neglect
3. An absence of responsiveness to the emotional suffering or situations of other people, often manifesting in a disregard for their feelings

Etymology: "Insensitivity" is a plain compound: the prefix "in-", meaning "not," attached to "sensitivity." The prefix comes from Latin "in-," a negating element that English has used for centuries to reverse a quality, as in "invisible" or "incomplete." The root "sensitivity" traces back through Middle English and French to Latin "sensus," meaning "feeling" or "perception," from "sentire," "to feel." So the word literally says "not feeling," and its core sense is a lack of response to what others experience. The surprising part is how much the root has changed. "Sensitivity" once referred mainly to physical perception, the capacity of the senses to register things, and only later came to mean emotional responsiveness. The negated form therefore inherited a double meaning: it can describe a numbness of the body or a numbness of the heart, and modern usage mostly favours the emotional sense.

Synonyms: indifference, apathy, unresponsiveness

Antonyms: sensitivity, empathy