sensitive

sensitive
sen|si|tive
W3S3 [ˈsensıtıv] adj
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
1¦(understanding people)¦
2¦(easily offended)¦
3¦(easily affected)¦
4¦(situation/subject)¦
5¦(reacting to changes)¦
6¦(art/music etc)¦
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: sensitif, from Medieval Latin sensitivus, from Latin sensus; SENSE1]
1.) ¦(UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE)¦
able to understand other people's feelings and problems
▪ a sensitive and intelligent young man
sensitive to
▪ It's made me much more sensitive to the needs of the disabled.
2.) ¦(EASILY OFFENDED)¦
easily upset or offended by events or things that people say
▪ a very sensitive child
sensitive about
▪ Laura's sensitive about her weight.
sensitive to
▪ Throughout her career she remained very sensitive to criticism.
sensitive soul
BrE (=someone who is easily upset by small or unimportant things)
3.) ¦(EASILY AFFECTED)¦
easily affected or damaged by something such as a substance or temperature
▪ Wetlands are environmentally sensitive areas.
▪ a baby's sensitive skin
sensitive to
▪ Older people tend to be very sensitive to cold.
▪ Increasing numbers of people are sensitive to cow's milk.
4.) ¦(SITUATION/SUBJECT)¦
a situation or subject that is sensitive needs to be dealt with very carefully, because it is secret or because it may offend people
▪ Abortion is a very sensitive issue.
▪ sensitive matters such as national security
▪ highly sensitive information
5.) ¦(REACTING TO CHANGES)¦
reacting to very small changes in light, temperature, position etc
▪ a highly sensitive electronic camera
light-sensitive/heat-sensitive etc
▪ light-sensitive photographic paper
6.) ¦(ART/MUSIC ETC)¦
able to understand or express yourself through art, music, literature etc
▪ a very sensitive performance
>sensitively adv
▪ It is an issue which needs to be handled sensitively.

Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sensitive — [ sɑ̃sitiv ] n. f. • 1665; herbe sensitive 1639; de sensitif ♦ Mimosa dont les feuilles se rétractent au contact. ● sensitive nom féminin Nom usuel donné à Mimosa pudica, plante dont les feuilles se replient au moindre contact. ● sensitif,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • sensitive — sen‧si‧tive [ˈsenstɪv] adjective 1. very easily and quickly affected by changes: • Many economically sensitive companies have closed factories and cut their staff. • We face fierce competition from imports and price sensitive consumers (=… …   Financial and business terms

  • Sensitive — Sen si*tive, a. [F. sensitif. See {Sense}.] 1. Having sense of feeling; possessing or exhibiting the capacity of receiving impressions from external objects; as, a sensitive soul. [1913 Webster] 2. Having quick and acute sensibility, either to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sensitive — Sensitive. s. f. Espece de plante, qu on appelle ainsi, parce qu elle semble avoir du sentiment, & s éloigner de celuy qui la veut toucher. La grande sensitive. la petite sensitive …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • sensitive — [sen′sə tiv] adj. [ME sensitife < MFr sensitif < ML sensitivus < L sensus: see SENSE] 1. of the senses or sensation; esp., connected with the reception or transmission of sense impressions; sensory 2. receiving and responding to stimuli… …   English World dictionary

  • sensitive — c.1400, having the function of sensation, from M.Fr. sensitif (13c.), from M.L. sensitivus capable of sensation, from L. sensus, pp. of sentire feel perceive (see SENSE (Cf. sense)). Meaning easily affected (with ref. to mental feelings) first… …   Etymology dictionary

  • sensitive — [adj1] impressionable acute, cognizant, conscious, delicate, easily affected, emotionable, emotional, feeling, fine, highstrung, hung up*, hypersensitive, impressible, irritable, keen, knowing, nervous, oversensitive, perceiving, perceptive,… …   New thesaurus

  • Sensitīve — (Sinnpflanze), s. Mimosa …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Sensitive — Sensitive, Sinnpflanze, s. Mimosa …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • sensitive — I (discerning) adjective aesthetic, alert, alive to, apperceptive, appercipient, astute, attentive, awake to, aware, cognizant, conscious, critical, discriminating, discriminative, fastidious, heedful, keen, mindful, observant, penetrating,… …   Law dictionary

  • sensitive — 1 susceptible, subject, exposed, open, *liable, prone Analogous words: impressed, influenced, affected (see AFFECT): predisposed, disposed, inclined (see INCLINE vb) Antonyms: insensitive 2 *sentient, impressible, impressionable, responsive,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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