sensitive

sensitive
1. Capable of perceiving sensations. 2. Responding to a stimulus. 3. Acutely perceptive of interpersonal situations. 4. One who is readily hypnotizable. 5. Readily undergoing a chemical change, with but slight change in environmental conditions, as a s. reagent. 6. In immunology, denoting: 1) a sensitized antigen; 2) a person (or animal) rendered susceptible to immunological reactions by previous exposure to the antigen concerned. SYN: sensible (3).

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sen·si·tive 'sen(t)-sət-iv, 'sen(t)-stiv adj
1) SENSORY (2) <\sensitive nerves>
2 a) receptive to sense impressions
b) capable of being stimulated or excited by external agents (as light, gravity, or contact) <a photographic emulsion \sensitive to red light> <\sensitive protoplasm>
3) highly responsive or susceptible: as
a) easily hurt or damaged <\sensitive skin> esp easily hurt emotionally
b) excessively or abnormally susceptible: HYPERSENSITIVE <\sensitive to egg protein>
c) capable of indicating minute differences <\sensitive scales>
d) readily affected or changed by various agents (as light or mechanical shock) <a \sensitive colloid>
sen·si·tive·ness n

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adj.
possessing the ability to respond to a stimulus. The cells of the retina, for example, are sensitive to the stimulus of light and respond by sending nerve impulses to the brain. Other receptor are sensitive to different specific stimuli, such as pressure or the presence of chemical substances.

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sen·si·tive (senґsĭ-tiv) [L. sensitivus] 1. able to receive or respond to stimuli. 2. sometimes used to mean having too quick, too acute, or some other abnormal response to stimulation.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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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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