[de.sen.si.tize] vt (1898) 1: to make (a sensitized or hypersensitive individual) insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent
2: to make emotionally insensitive or callous; specif: to extinguish an emotional response (as of fear, anxiety, or guilt) to stimuli that formerly induced it -- de.sen.si.ti.za.tion n -- de.sen.si.tiz.er n