(ˈ)dē, də̇+ verb
Etymology: de- + sensitize
transitive verb
1. : to render (a sensitized or hypersensitive individual) insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent
desensitized to an allergenic pollen by repeated injections of an extract of that pollen
2. : to render (a photographic material) less sensitive or completely insensitive to radiation
3. : to make portions of (an offset plate) repellent to ink
4. : to render insensible to some sensation or emotion or insensitive or callous to inhumanity, injustice, degradation
they have been so successfully desensitized that they are unable to recognize the most obvious facts — Alfred Kantorowicz
5. : to free (as by psychotherapy) of the emotional charge investing a complex