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SENSITIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who serves as an intermediary between the living and the dead
Example:
he consulted several mediums
Synonyms:
medium; sensitive; spiritualist
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("sensitive" is a kind of...):
psychic (a person apparently sensitive to things beyond the natural range of perception)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of or pertaining to classified information or matters affecting national security
Classified under:
Similar:
classified (official classification of information or documents; withheld from general circulation)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Hurting
Example:
the tender spot on his jaw
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
painful (causing physical or psychological pain)
Derivation:
sensitivity ((physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Able to feel or perceive
Example:
the more sensible parts of the skin
Synonyms:
sensible; sensitive
Classified under:
Adjectives
Also:
aware; cognisant; cognizant ((sometimes followed by 'of') having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception)
conscious (knowing and perceiving; having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts)
sensitive (responsive to physical stimuli)
Derivation:
sense (perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles)
sensitiveness ((physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Responsive to physical stimuli
Example:
sensitive to light
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
reactive; responsive (reacting to a stimulus)
nociceptive (caused by or in response to pain)
radiosensitive (sensitive to radiation)
light-sensitive; photosensitive (sensitive to visible light)
irritable (abnormally sensitive to a stimulus)
highly sensitive (readily affected by various agents)
excitable; irritable (capable of responding to stimuli)
erogenous (sensitive to sexual stimulation)
delicate (of an instrument or device; capable of registering minute differences or changes precisely)
Also:
sensible; sensitive (able to feel or perceive)
responsive (readily reacting or replying to people or events or stimuli; showing emotion)
susceptible ((often followed by 'of' or 'to') yielding readily to or capable of)
Attribute:
sensitiveness; sensitivity (the ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences)
Antonym:
insensitive (not responsive to physical stimuli)
Derivation:
sense (perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles)
sense (detect some circumstance or entity automatically)
sensitiveness (the ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences)
sensitivity ((physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Being susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others
Example:
sensitive to the local community and its needs
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
alive ((followed by 'to' or 'of') aware of)
feisty; huffy; thin-skinned; touchy (quick to take offense)
oversensitive (unduly sensitive or thin-skinned)
Also:
responsive (readily reacting or replying to people or events or stimuli; showing emotion)
Attribute:
sensitiveness; sensitivity (sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others))
Antonym:
insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)
Derivation:
sense (comprehend)
sense (become aware of not through the senses but instinctively)
sensitiveness (the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment)
sensitiveness (sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others))
sensitivity (the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment)
sensitivity (sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others))
Context examples:
This AML is particularly sensitive to treatment with all trans-retinoic acid and has a favorable prognosis.
(Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia with t(15;17)(q22;q12); PML-RARA, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)
Tumor cells expressing HSV-tk are sensitive to synthetic acyclic guanosine analogues.
(Ad-hCMV-TK, NCI Thesaurus)
However, as I knew how tender-hearted my dear Dora was, and how sensitive she would be to any slight upon her favourite, I hinted no objection.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Dinucleotide repeats are less sensitive than mononucleotide repeats, but provide internal sample control.
(Mononucleotide and Dinucleotide Marker Panel, NCI Thesaurus)
I shall feel the affections of a sensitive being and become linked to the chain of existence and events from which I am now excluded.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
My brother, Sir James, was a man of very sensitive honour, and he could not survive such an affair.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"The differences we found in fetal growth measures may be more sensitive indicators, compared to birth size, of the potential effects of these compounds," said Dr. Mendola.
(Persistent organic pollutants in maternal blood linked to smaller fetal size, National Institutes of Health)
Her conscience, her sensitive conscience, would have felt all that the conscience of her husband ought to have felt.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Nitrocefin is sensitive to hydrolysis by all lactamases produced by gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.
(Nitrocefin, NCI Thesaurus)
But the observations were not sensitive enough to reveal the distance of the galaxy.
(ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight, National Science Foundation)
