sensitive
Syllables: sen·sit·ive/ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv//ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv/
sensitive adjective: having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.
Adjective
sensitive (comparative more sensitive, superlative most sensitive)
- Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.
- The sensitive faculty most part overrules reason, the soul is carried hoodwinked, and the understanding captive like a beast.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...
- Responsive to stimuli.
- 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.1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9
- Easily offended, upset, or hurt.
- Max is very sensitive; he cried today because of the bad news.
- Capable of offending, upsetting, or hurting.
- Religion is often a sensitive topic of discussion and should be avoided when dealing with foreign business associates.
- Meant to be concealed or kept secret.
- These are highly sensitive documents.
- Xeltan: I cannot speak more about this problem; it is too sensitive. Suffice it to say, she has compromised my authority as a diplomat.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel
- Being aware of the feelings of others and taking care not to offend them.
- Thank you for being sensitive.
- Important, intricate, and requiring great delicacy.
- The president's untimely statement disrupted some very sensitive negotiations.
- Accurate; able to register small changes in some property.
- Having paranormal abilities that can be controlled through mesmerism.
Noun
sensitive (plural sensitives)
- A person with a paranormal sensitivity to something that most cannot perceive.
- [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".1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 72
- After all, Madame Rosita was a sensitive.1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 82
sensitive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
sensitive in Hindi
- sensitive
- संवेदनशील samvedanśīl
sensitive in Tamil
- உணர்ச்சி மிக்க, உணர்ச்சி ததும்பும், எளிதில் தூண்டப்படக்கூடிய, உணரக்கூடிய, தூண்டுதல், உணர்மிகை
sensitive in Marathi
- sensitive
- संवेदनशील sauvedanśīl
sensitive in Urdu
- گداز, حساس, نازک, ذود رنج
More languagesFewer languages
- sensitive in Bengali
- সংবেদনশীল, সুবেদী, সূক্ষ্ম, সুগ্রাহী
- sensitive in Telugu
- సున్నితమైనది, సున్నితమైన
- sensitive in Malayalam
- ലോലമായ മനസ്സുള്ള, സചേതനമായ, വേഗമറിയുന്ന
- sensitive in Kannada
- ಶೀಘ್ರಗ್ರಾಹಿ, ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮಸಂವೇದನೆಯ, ವೇದನಾಶೀಲ, ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮಗ್ರಾಹಿ
- sensitive in Punjabi
- ਸੰਵੇਦਨਸ਼ੀਲ
- sensitive in Gujarati
- સંવેદનશીલ
- sensitive in Odia
- ସମ୍ବେଦନଶୀଳ, ସମ୍ବେଦନଶୀଳ |
- sensitive in Nepali
- संवेदनशील
- sensitive in Tagalog
- matugunin
- sensitive in Arabic
- ذُو إِحْسَاس ḏū ʔiḥsās, حَسَّاس ḥassās
- sensitive in Indonesian
- baper
- sensitive in Vietnamese
- nhạy cảm
Examples of sensitive in a sentence
- His sensitive radar for hidden alliances keeps him out of trouble.
- The rods are more sensitive than the cones, but do not discern color.
- The sensitive subject was treated with humour, but in such way that no one was offended.
Synonyms of sensitive
Antonyms
Forms of sensitive
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more sensitive |
| superlative | most sensitive |
| alternative form (archaic) | sensative |
| Noun | |
| plural | sensitives |
Origin of sensitive
From Middle French sensitif, from Medieval Latin sensitivus. By surface analysis, sense + -ite + -ive.
Words formed from sensitive
- 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
- pressure-sensitive
- pseudosensitive
- psychrosensitive
- radiosensitive
- Sensex
- sensitive compartmented information
- sensitive female chord progression
- sensitive fern
- sensitively
- sensitiveness
- sensitive pea
- sensitive style
- sensitivity
- sensitivize
- sensitize
- serosensitive
- somatosensitive
- subsensitive
- supersensitive
- thermohygrosensitive
- thermosensitive
- triplosensitive
- ultrasensitive
- undersensitive
- unsensitive
- viscerosensitive
Phrases with sensitive
Questions about sensitive
- What does sensitive mean?
- Sensitive means having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.
- What is sensitive in Hindi?
- Sensitive in Hindi is संवेदनशील (samvedanśīl). See Sensitive meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sensitive?
- Sensitive can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce sensitive?
- Sensitive is pronounced /ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv/ (UK).
Words near sensitive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sensitive (page history and authors); संवेदनशील (Hindi) (page history and authors); sensitive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); संवेदनशील (Marathi) (page history and authors); sensitive (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensitive (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensitive (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensitive (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensitive (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensitive (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensitive (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensitive (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensitive (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “sensitive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sensitive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.