desensitize
Example Sentences
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“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
The pretreatment seemed to desensitize the animals to the hormone’s effects later on.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 13, 2023
“The perpetrators of this crime do so in the hope that it will harass and intimidate Jewish families, radicalize others, or desensitize some to the messaging,” the motion adds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
The simulations can help patients practice organizational and decision-making skills learned in cognitive behavioral therapy -- currently the standard treatment -- and desensitize them to the distress they feel when discarding.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2023
Then the treatment will desensitize it sufficiently and I can work on it without hurting you at all.'
From Cape Cod and All the Pilgrim Land, June 1922, Volume 6, Number 4 A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Interests of Southeastern Massachusetts by Various
“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
Interestingly, a diet high in these foods also desensitizes the taste system, making animals and humans perceive food as less sweet.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2022
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
The rap against video games is that the artificial violence they permit us desensitizes us to real violence.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2016
He explains how he believes Alcaraz’s tragic death likely came to be and how officers have become desensitized to issues afflicting America’s prisons.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
But Wall Street has become desensitized to the actual or attempted regulation of tech platforms, which have only continued to grow.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
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
Reactions to other recent reports have been muted as well, with investors seemingly desensitized to Nvidia’s big numbers.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 23, 2026
Lawrence’s friendship with Neylan desensitized him to the moral quandary faced by members of the Rad Lab, especially its European-born scientists.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Saturating audiences with doomsday stories risks desensitizing them, Nelson warned.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026
Doo-man can’t work to the best of his ability unless he eats, even if it means desensitizing himself to life’s gruesome truths.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2025
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
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
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Vocabulary lists containing desensitize
Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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