desensitize

Constant warnings of collapse desensitize us to real dangers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

“One of the things that we teach them to do is to massage that over repeatedly throughout the day, to desensitize it,” April says.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2024

For young children and people who have to take many different allergy medications, immunotherapies in the form of shots and oral drops can help desensitize the immune system to allergens, treating symptoms at their root.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024

The pretreatment seemed to desensitize the animals to the hormone’s effects later on.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 13, 2023

Riding in the open air is better than not being in the open air at all, but it does not compare in its power to desensitize people with active exercise in the open air.

From Health Through Will Power by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh

“We hear stuff like this all the time. It just desensitizes you to there being an actual threat, knock on wood.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

“It desensitizes you to handcuffs, to steel, to concrete, to cold, to institutions,” said Roybal, now 38 and a physical therapist.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2023

In addition to killing cavity-causing bacteria, the treatment hardens tooth structure, desensitizes the tooth and even stops new cavities from forming.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 2020

Regional anesthesia desensitizes a large section of someone’s body by injecting drugs into the spine that block nerve signals to the brain.

From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2014

Nadeau desensitizes allergic kids to allergens through exposure.

From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2013

I hear this narrative a lot, like, people are so plugged into social media and desensitized to violence that we just don’t care about anyone else anymore.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

When I asked Jemima why she felt she was able to consume all this graphic content, she recognized that at this time in her life she was deeply desensitized.

From Slate ● May 12, 2026

Pepperstone strategist Michael Brown said markets appear to be “becoming increasingly desensitized to incoming geopolitical news flow” as the conflict drags on.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

Reactions to other recent reports have been muted as well, with investors seemingly desensitized to Nvidia’s big numbers.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 23, 2026

“You need to get desensitized to the hugging,” Aaron said.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Saturating audiences with doomsday stories risks desensitizing them, Nelson warned.

From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026

Skylar King, who’s performing at the show, said she had a week of long conversations with her fellow performers on how to joke about climate change without desensitizing people to the seriousness of the topic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2024

Leprosy primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system, causing physical deformity and desensitizing one’s ability to feel pain on affected skin.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2024

Trainers begin by desensitizing the chimps to the sound, doling out bananas, Cheerios or other treats as it plays.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

But this morning I noticed a real improvement when I went through the massage and desensitizing routine.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen