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View synonyms for sensitive

sensitive

[ sen-si-tiv ]

adjective

  1. endowed with sensation; having perception through the senses.
  2. readily or excessively affected by external agencies or influences.
  3. having acute mental or emotional sensibility; aware of and responsive to the feelings of others.
  4. easily pained, annoyed, etc.
  5. pertaining to or connected with the senses or sensation.
  6. Physiology. having a low threshold of sensation or feeling.
  7. responding to stimuli, as leaves that move when touched.
  8. highly responsive to certain agents, as photographic plates, films, or paper.
  9. affected or likely to be affected by a specified stimulus (used in combination):

    price-sensitive markets.

  10. involving work, duties, or information of a highly secret or delicate nature, especially in government:

    a sensitive position in the State Department.

  11. requiring tact or caution; delicate; touchy:

    a sensitive topic.

  12. constructed to indicate, measure, or be affected by small amounts or changes, as a balance or thermometer.
  13. Radio. easily affected by external influences, especially by radio waves.


noun

  1. a person who is sensitive.
  2. a person with psychic powers; medium.

sensitive

/ ˈsɛnsɪtɪv /

adjective

  1. having the power of sensation
  2. responsive to or aware of feelings, moods, reactions, etc
  3. easily irritated; delicate

    sensitive skin

  4. affected by external conditions or stimuli
  5. easily offended
  6. of or relating to the senses or the power of sensation
  7. capable of registering small differences or changes in amounts, quality, etc

    a sensitive instrument

  8. photog having a high sensitivity

    a sensitive emulsion

  9. connected with matters affecting national security, esp through access to classified information
  10. (of a stock market or prices) quickly responsive to external influences and thus fluctuating or tending to fluctuate
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈsensitively, adverb
  • ˈsensitiveness, noun
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Other Words From

  • sensi·tive·ly adverb
  • non·sensi·tive adjective
  • non·sensi·tive·ly adverb
  • non·sensi·tive·ness noun
  • ultra·sensi·tive adjective
  • ultra·sensi·tive·ly adverb
  • un·sensi·tive adjective
  • un·sensi·tive·ly adverb
  • un·sensi·tive·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sensitive1

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Medieval Latin sēnsitīvus, irregular formation from Latin sēns(us) “felt” (past participle of sentīre “to feel”) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English sensitif(e), from Middle French sensitif, sensitive, from Medieval Latin, as above; sense
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sensitive1

C14: from Medieval Latin sēnsitīvus, from Latin sentīre to feel
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Example Sentences

For example biometric data is something that’s seen as highly sensitive under the LGPD, but in the decree could still be shared between bodies.

All, I think Melanie would say, because she was able to come up with an answer to every question a skeptical, risk-sensitive investor might have.

From Fortune

Tests were conducted at Germany’s animal health institute and sensitive areas will now be cordoned off to try to prevent the disease spreading, Kloeckner said.

From Fortune

According to Dhamodharan, Mastercard is sensitive to privacy issues and is building its testing kit to reflect that.

From Fortune

Some tests may be very sensitive but less specific — in other words, good at picking up the presence of virus when it is there but less good at saying when the virus is not there.

From Fortune

And the Gävle Goat, apparently a sensitive creature, took the destruction hard.

The expo is introduced by Mayor Anne Hildalgo, who describes it as a “sensitive reading of the upheavals in French society.”

But they are also sensitive to pressure and attention from the West.

It is this very sensitive issue that has galvanized widespread resistance from previously loyal campesinos.

He was highly perceptive and exquisitely sensitive to everything around him.

He felt, in his sensitive way, that the two sweet-souled Englishwomen had deepened and sanctified his love for Jean.

The eyebrows were low and thick, the upper lip was sensitive, quivering sometimes as she talked, but the lower was firm and full.

He was beset by his sensitive dislike to mix in other people's affairs, but almost angrily he overcame it.

And here he might have stopped with safety; but his roused, suspicious, sensitive nature, would not suffer him.

It is a sensitive test, and, when positive, is absolute proof of the presence of blood.

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