Standard Lemma guide

sensitize

verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH1 N S AH0 T AY2 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To make (someone or something) sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To make (someone) increasingly aware of, in a concerned or sensitive way.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Ever since the burglary, we've been more sensitized to home security issues.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To render capable of being acted on by actinic rays of light.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

make sensitive or aware

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • He was not sensitized to her emotional needs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sensitise, sensify, sensibilize, sensibilise

Antonyms: desensitize

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

5

verb

Meaning 5

make (a material) sensitive to light, often of a particular colour, by coating it with a photographic emulsion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • sensitize the photographic film

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sensitise

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

6

verb

Meaning 6

make sensitive to a drug or allergen

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Long-term exposure to this medicine may sensitize you to the allergen

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sensitise

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

7

verb

Meaning 7

cause to sense; make sensitive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • She sensitized me with respect to gender differences in this traditional male-dominated society
  • My tongue became sensitized to good wine

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sensitise

Antonyms: desensitize

Narrower terms: photosensitize, photosensitise, stimulate, excite, stir

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English sensitive Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English sensitize From sensitive + -ize.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: правя чувствителен (pravja čuvstvitelen) — to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli
  • Catalan: sensibilitzar — to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli
  • Finnish: herkistää — to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli
  • German: sensibilisieren — to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli
  • Hungarian: érzékennyé tesz — to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli
  • Romanian: sensibiliza — to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli
  • Catalan: sensibilitzar — to make increasingly aware of
  • Chinese Mandarin: 使意识到 — to make increasingly aware of
  • Czech: senzibilizovat — to make increasingly aware of
  • Finnish: herkistyä — to make increasingly aware of
  • Finnish: herkistää — to make increasingly aware of
  • German: sensibilisieren — to make increasingly aware of
  • Hungarian: érzékenyít — to make increasingly aware of
  • Hungarian: szenzitizál — to make increasingly aware of
  • Italian: sensibilizzare — to make increasingly aware of
  • Romanian: sensibiliza — to make increasingly aware of
  • Spanish: sensibilizar — to make increasingly aware of