Insensitizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make someone or something less sensitive to stimuli or emotional responses
2. to induce a state where the normal reactions to feelings are dulled or diminished
3. to alter a person or object's capacity to notice or respond to sensory input or emotional cues

Etymology: The verb "insensitize" is built from "insensitive" plus the causative suffix "-ize", which turns an adjective into a verb meaning "to make something be" that quality. "Insensitive" itself comes from "in-", meaning "not," and "sensitive," which traces back through Medieval Latin "sensitivus" to Latin "sentire," "to feel." So the word literally means "to make not feel," a sense that fits its uses in medicine and pharmacology, where drugs or repeated exposure are said to insensitize nerves or tissues to pain or a chemical. The suffix does most of the work here. English has long formed verbs this way, from "sensitize" (to make sensitive) to "familiarize" and "civilize," so "insensitize" follows an established pattern: take an adjective, add "-ize," and you have a verb of making. Both parts are ordinary English building blocks, which is why the word is easy to decode even when you have never seen it before.

Synonyms: numbs, desensitizes

Antonyms: sensitizes