sensitive

English

Alternative forms

• sensative (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French sensitif, from Medieval Latin sensitivus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: sĕn'sĭtĭv, IPA^(key): /ˈsɛnsɪtɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪnsɪtɪv/

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready. Particularly: "pin-pen"

• Hyphenation: sen‧sit‧ive

Adjective

sensitive (comparative more sensitive, superlative most sensitive)

1. Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 1, member 2, subsection i:

     The sensitive faculty most part overrules reason, the soul is carried hoodwinked, and the understanding captive like a beast.

2. Responsive to stimuli.
   • 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9:

     The engine seemed a little sensitive to wet rails, and in consequence the uphill work was not so good north of Dundee as it had been earlier. But I have noted this same "touchiness" on the part of the "A4s", and other modern British 4-6-2s, so that in this respect No. 2006 proved no exception.

3. (of a person) Easily offended, upset, or hurt.

   Max is very sensitive; he cried today because of the bad news.

4. (of an issue, topic, etc.) Capable of offending, upsetting, or hurting.

   Religion is often a sensitive topic of discussion and should be avoided when dealing with foreign business associates.

5. Meant to be concealed or kept secret.

   These are highly sensitive documents.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

     Xeltan: I cannot speak more about this problem; it is too sensitive. Suffice it to say, she has compromised my authority as a diplomat.

6. Being aware of the feelings of others and taking care not to offend them.

   Thank you for being sensitive.

7. Important, intricate, and requiring great delicacy.

   The president's untimely statement disrupted some very sensitive negotiations.

8. (of an instrument) Accurate; able to register small changes in some property.
9. (archaic) Having paranormal abilities that can be controlled through mesmerism.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• aware
• caring
• classified
• compassionate
• nesh
• precise
• tender

Antonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• insensitive
• nonsensitive
• resistant
• stoic
• uncaring

Hyponyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• hypersensitive
• light-sensitive
• time-sensitive

Derived terms

• barosensitive
• case sensitive
• chemosensitive
• cold-sensitive
• context-sensitive
• cryosensitive
• ecosensitive
• electrosensitive
• extrasensitive
• hemosensitive
• highly sensitive person
• hydrosensitive
• hygrosensitive
• hyposensitive
• immunosensitive
• magnetosensitive
• mechanosensitive
• metabosensitive
• meteorosensitive
• morphosensitive
• osmosensitive
• oversensitive
• pansensitive
• pharmacosensitive
• phosphosensitive
• photosensitive
• piezosensitive
• pseudosensitive
• psychrosensitive
• psychrosensitive
• radiosensitive
• Sensex
• sensitive fern
• sensitively
• sensitiveness
• sensitive pea
• sensitivity
• sensitivize
• sensitize
• serosensitive
• somatosensitive
• subsensitive
• supersensitive
• thermohygrosensitive
• thermosensitive
• triplosensitive
• ultrasensitive
• undersensitive
• unsensitive
• viscerosensitive

 

Related terms

• sense

Translations

having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses

Arabic: ذُو إِحْسَاس m (ḏū ʔiḥsās) Bulgarian: чувствителен (bg) (čuvstvitelen) Cebuano: sensitib, sensitibo Esperanto: sentema Finnish: aisti- (fi) Galician: sensíbel (gl) Greek: αισθητικός (el) (aisthitikós) Ancient: αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós) Hungarian: érzékelő (hu), érzékelési (hu), érzékszervi (hu) Maori: rahirahi (of hearing) Polish: czuły (pl) Portuguese: sensitivo (pt) Spanish: sensible (es) Tagalog: matugunin

responsive to stimuli

Arabic: حَسَّاس (ḥassās) Armenian: զգայուն (hy) (zgayun) Azerbaijani: həssas (az) Belarusian: чуллі́вы (čullívy), чульлі́вы (čulʹlívy) (Taraškievica), адчува́льны (adčuválʹny), чу́лы (čúly), чу́ткі (čútki) Bulgarian: чувстви́телен (bg) (čuvstvítelen) Catalan: sensible (ca) Cebuano: sensitib, sensitibo Chinese: Mandarin: 敏感 (zh) (mǐngǎn) Czech: citlivý (cs) Danish: følsom Dutch: gevoelig (nl), prikkelbaar (nl), lichtgeraakt (nl) Finnish: herkkä (fi), aistiherkkä French: sensible (fr) Galician: sensíbel (gl) Georgian: მგრძნობიარე (mgrʒnobiare) German: empfindlich (de), sensibel (de) Greek: ευαίσθητος (el) m (evaísthitos) Ancient: αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós) Hungarian: érzékeny (hu), fogékony (hu) Icelandic: viðkvæmur (is) Ingrian: hellä, herkkä Italian: ricettivo (it), sensibile (it) Japanese: 敏感な (ja) (びんかんな, binkan na) Korean: 민감하다 (ko) (min'gamhada) Maori: rahirahi (Usually refers to hearing) Norwegian: følsom (no) Polish: wrażliwy (pl), czuły (pl) Portuguese: sensível (pt), sensitivo (pt) Romanian: sensibil (ro), susceptibil (ro), impresionabil (ro), receptiv (ro) Russian: чувстви́тельный (ru) (čuvstvítelʹnyj), чу́ткий (ru) (čútkij), восприи́мчивый (ru) (vospriímčivyj) Serbo-Croatian: osjetljiv (sh) Slovak: citlivý Slovene: občutljiv (sl) Spanish: sensible (es), sensitivo Swedish: känslig (sv) Tagalog: matugunin Ukrainian: чутли́вий (čutlývyj), чу́лий (čúlyj), почутли́вий (počutlývyj), чуйни́й (čujnýj), чутки́й (čutkýj) Vietnamese: nhạy cảm (vi)

easily offended

Arabic: حَسَّاس m (ḥassās) Basque: sentibera (eu), hunkibera (eu) Bulgarian: обидчив (bg) (obidčiv) Catalan: sensible (ca) Cebuano: sensitib, sensitibo Czech: citlivý (cs), senzitivní (cs) Esperanto: sentema Finnish: herkkä (fi), herkkätunteinen, arka (fi) French: sensible (fr) Galician: sensíbel (gl), susceptíbel (gl) German: empfindlich (de), sensibel (de) Greek: ευαίσθητος (el) (evaísthitos), εύθικτος (el) (éfthiktos) Hebrew: רגיש Hungarian: érzékeny (hu), szenzitív (hu) Ingrian: herkkä, arkaloontoin Italian: sensibile (it) Japanese: 敏感な (ja) (びんかんな, binkan na) Maori: hūkokikoki, āritarita Navajo: baa hastiʼ Polish: drażliwy (pl) m Portuguese: sensível (pt) Romanian: receptiv (ro) m or n, sensibil (ro) m or n, simțitor (ro) m or n Russian: чувстви́тельный (ru) (čuvstvítelʹnyj), рани́мый (ru) (ranímyj) Serbo-Croatian: razdražljiv (sh) m Slovene: občutljiv (sl) Spanish: sensible (es), susceptible (es) Swedish: känslig (sv) Turkish: alıngan (tr), darılgan (tr)

capable of offending

Catalan: delicat (ca), ploramiques (ca) m Cebuano: sensitib, sensitibo Danish: sensitiv Finnish: herkkä (fi), arkaluonteinen (fi) Galician: delicado (gl) m, delicada f Greek: ευαίσθητος (el) (evaísthitos) Hebrew: רגיש Hungarian: kényes (hu) Italian: sensibile (it), delicato (it) Portuguese: delicado (pt) Russian: конфиденциа́льный (ru) (konfidɛnciálʹnyj), щекотливый (ru) (ščekotlivyj) Turkish: hassas (tr), ince (tr), nazik (tr)

accurate

Bulgarian: прецизен (bg) (precizen) Catalan: sensible (ca) Czech: citlivý (cs) Finnish: herkkä (fi) French: sensible (fr) Galician: sensíbel (gl) Greek: ευαίσθητος (el) m (evaísthitos) Hungarian: érzékeny (hu), finom (hu), precíz (hu) Japanese: 繊細な (ja) (せんさいな, sensai na) Portuguese: sensível (pt) Romanian: sensibil (ro), de precizie Russian: чувстви́тельный (ru) (čuvstvítelʹnyj), то́чный (ru) (tóčnyj) Spanish: sensible (es) Swedish: känslig (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: (please verify) gevoelig (nl) Italian: (please verify) sensibile (it) Swedish: (1, 2) (please verify) känslig (sv) Turkish: (please verify) duyarlı (tr), (please verify) hassas (tr)

Noun

sensitive (plural sensitives)

1. A person with a paranormal sensitivity to something that most cannot perceive.
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 72:

     [I]t is quite certain that many of their fears were unfounded, and centred upon perfectly innocent people - especially those who were what we now call "mediumistic" or "sensitives".

   • 2003, Frederic W.H. Myers, Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death Part 2:

     Swedenborg was one of the leading savants of Europe; it would be absurd to place any of our sensitives on the same intellectual level.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.si.tiv/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sensitive

1. feminine singular of sensitif

Noun

sensitive f (plural sensitives)

1. sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica)

Further reading

• “sensitive”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• investies

Italian

Adjective

sensitive f pl

1. feminine plural of sensitivo

Anagrams

• estensivi, intessevi

Latin

Adjective

sēnsitīve

1. vocative masculine singular of sēnsitīvus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

sensitive

1. definite singular of sensitiv
2. plural of sensitiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

sensitive

1. definite singular of sensitiv
2. plural of sensitiv