sensitive

Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.

Adjective

  1. 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...
  2. 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...
  3. Easily offended, upset, or hurt.
    • Max is very sensitive; he cried today because of the bad news.
  4. 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.
    • 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,...
  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. Accurate; able to register small changes in some property.
  9. Having paranormal abilities that can be controlled through mesmerism.

Origin

From Middle French sensitif, from Medieval Latin sensitivus. By surface analysis, sense + -ite + -ive.

Forms

more sensitive most sensitive sensative

Synonyms

aware caring classified compassionate nesh precise tender

Antonyms

insensitive nonsensitive resistant stoic uncaring

Hyponyms

hypersensitive light-sensitive time-sensitive

Related

sense

Derived

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

Noun

  1. 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,...
    • After all, Madame Rosita was a sensitive. - 1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 82:
    • Swedenborg was one of the leading savants of Europe; it would be absurd to place any of our sensitives on the same intellectual level. - 2003, Frederic W.H. Myers, Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death Part...

Forms

sensitives sensative