sensitivity

ability to react to stimuli: sensitivity to light

Not to be confused with:

sensibility – capacity for feeling; responsiveness: She has a great sensibility for her patients.

sen·si·tiv·i·ty

(sĕn′sĭ-tĭv′ĭ-tē)

n. pl. sen·si·tiv·i·ties

a. The quality or condition of being sensitive: sensitivity to the concerns of others.

b. The capacity to respond to changes in the environment.

2. The degree of response of a receiver or instrument to an incoming signal or to a change in the incoming signal, as in FM radio.

3. The degree of response to light, especially to light of a specified wavelength, as in photographic film.

4. The proportion of individuals in a population with a particular disease or condition that are correctly identified when administered a test for that disease or condition.

5. Biology The response or degree of response, as of a cell, tissue, or organism, to a chemical substance or stimulus, such as a toxin, infectious agent, hormone, allergen, or antigen: insulin sensitivity.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sensitivity

(ˌsɛnsɪˈtɪvɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the state or quality of being sensitive

2. (Stock Exchange) the state or quality of being sensitive

3. (Commerce) the state or quality of being sensitive

4. (Physiology) physiol the state, condition, or quality of reacting or being sensitive to an external stimulus, drug, allergen, etc

5. (usually plural) a tendency to have a strong emotional reaction, esp to be offended or upset

6. (Electronics) electronics the magnitude or time of response of an instrument, circuit, etc, to an input signal, such as a current

7. (Photography) photog the degree of response of an emulsion to light or other actinic radiation, esp to light of a particular colour, expressed in terms of its speed

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sen•si•tiv•i•ty

(ˌsɛn sɪˈtɪv ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. the state or quality of being sensitive.

a. the ability of an organism or part of an organism to react to stimuli; irritability.

b. degree of susceptibility to stimulation.

3. the ability of a radio or television receiver to respond to incoming signals.

[1795–1805]

Sensitivity

close to the bone Deep; near to the heart; to the quick; close to home; also near to the bone. The deeper a physical wound, the closer it is to the bone. The phrase is usually used figuratively of mental or emotional sensation.

to the quick Where one is most sensitive and vulnerable; to the very heart or core; deeply; often cut to the quick. In this phrase the quick means ‘the tender, sensitive flesh of the body, particularly that under the nails.’ The expression dates both in literal and figurative usage from the 1520s, but is commonly used today to denote extreme mental or emotional pain.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	sensitivity - (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation; "sensitivity to pain" sensitiveness, sensibility sensory faculty, sentiency, sentience, sense, sensation - the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; "in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing" acuteness - a sensitivity that is keen and highly developed; "dogs have a remarkable acuteness of smell" hypersensitivity - extreme sensitivity reactivity, responsiveness - responsive to stimulation exteroception - sensitivity to stimuli originating outside of the body interoception - sensitivity to stimuli originating inside of the body photosensitivity, radiosensitivity - sensitivity to the action of radiant energy physiology - the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms
	2.	sensitivity - the ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences; "a galvanometer of extreme sensitivity"; "the sensitiveness of Mimosa leaves does not depend on a change of growth" sensitiveness physical property - any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions frequency response - (electronics) a curve representing the output-to-input ratio of a transducer as a function of frequency
	3.	sensitivity - sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others) sensitiveness feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual" oversensitiveness - sensitivity leading to easy irritation or upset sensibility - refined sensitivity to pleasurable or painful impressions; "cruelty offended his sensibility" feelings - emotional or moral sensitivity (especially in relation to personal principles or dignity); "the remark hurt his feelings"
	4.	sensitivity - susceptibility to a pathogen predisposition susceptibility, susceptibleness - the state of being susceptible; easily affected habitus - person's predisposition to be affected by something (as a disease); "the consumptive habitus" sensitisation, sensitization - the state of being sensitive (as to an antigen) hypersensitivity - pathological sensitivity diathesis - constitutional predisposition to a particular disease or abnormality
	5.	sensitivity - the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment sensitiveness antenna, feeler - sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ; "he had a special antenna for public relations" defensiveness - excessive sensitivity to criticism; "his defensiveness was manifested in hurt silence"; "the fear of being sued for malpractice has magnified physicians' defensiveness" perceptiveness - the quality of insight and sympathetic understanding ability - the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment insensitiveness, insensitivity - the inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment

sensitivity

noun

2. consideration, feeling, understanding, patience, intuition, delicacy, empathy, tact, responsiveness, thoughtfulness, receptiveness concern and sensitivity for each other's feelings

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sensitivity

noun

1. The capacity for or an act of responding to a stimulus:

2. The quality or condition of being emotionally and intuitively sensitive:

Translations

حَساسيَه

citlivost

følsomhed

erottelukykyhavaintokykyherkkyys

næmi, viîkvæmni

sensitivity

[ˌsensɪˈtɪvɪtɪ] N

1. (= emotional awareness) → sensibilidad f (to a)

3. (= delicate nature) [of issue, subject] → lo delicado

6. (= responsiveness) [of instrument, film] → sensibilidad f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sensitivity

[ˌsɛnsɪˈtɪvəti] n

sensitivity

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sensitive

(ˈsensitiv) adjective

1. (usually with to) strongly or easily affected (by something). sensitive skin; sensitive to light.

2. (usually with about or to) easily hurt or offended. She is very sensitive to criticism.

3. having or showing artistic good taste. a sensitive writer; a sensitive performance.

ˈsensitively adverbˈsensitiveness nounˌsensiˈtivity noun

sen·si·tiv·i·ty

n. sensibilidad, susceptibilidad.

sensitivity

n (pl -ties) sensibilidad f