desensitizeverb [ T ]
UK usually desensitise uk/ˌdiːˈsen.sɪ.taɪz/us/ˌdiːˈsen.sə.taɪz/to cause someone to experience something, usually an emotion or a pain, less strongly than before:
Seeing too much violence on television can desensitize people to it.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Becoming and making less strong
- abate
- adulterate
- attenuate
- attrition
- blow over
- blunt
- deflate
- dial
- dim
- emasculate
- jelly
- keep sb down
- knock/take the stuffing out of sb/sth idiom
- muffle
- neutralize
- pine
- sag
- sap
- shake
- wither on the vine idiom
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desensitization
noun [ U ] UK usually desensitisation uk/diˌsen.sɪ.taɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/us/diˌsen.sə.təˈzeɪ.ʃən/