sensitive

sensitive
/'sensifitIv/ adjective
1 UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE able to understand other people's feelings and problems: Underneath all that macho stuff, he's really a sensitive guy.
(+ to): We must be sensitive to the community's needs. —opposite insensitive
2 EASILY OFFENDED easily hurt, upset, or offended by things that people say: Don't be so sensitive - I wasn't criticizing you!
(+ about): Lara's very sensitive about her figure. | sensitive soul (=someone who is easily upset by small or unimportant things) —see also: hypersensitive
3 COLD/PAIN ETC able to feel physical sensations, especially pain, more than usual: Make sure you protect sensitive areas of your skin with a good suncream. | be sensitive to sth: Ruth is very sensitive to cold.
4 ART/MUSIC ETC able to understand or express yourself through art, music, literature etc: a sensitive musician | a very sensitive performance
5 SITUATIONS/SUBJECTS a situation or subject that is sensitive needs to be dealt with very carefully because it may offend people or make them angry: Sorry I didn't realize it was such a sensitive issue.
6 HEAT/LIGHT ETC able to measure or react to very small changes in heat, light etc: We need a more sensitive thermometer for this. | highly sensitive (=very sensitive): a highly sensitive electronic camera
(+ to): film that is sensitive to ultraviolet light. | light-sensitive/heat-sensitive etc: light-sensitive photographic paper — sensitively adverb — sensitivity noun (U) — also sensitiveness noun (U)

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • 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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