sensitive

sensitive

adjective

Definition of SENSITIVE

1

able to sense slight impressions or differences <a scale that is sensitive to the smallest change in weight>

Synonyms delicate, fine, keen, perceptive, quick, sensitive, sharp

Related Words accurate, clear, discerning, good, piercing, precise, receptive, sensible, subtle; hair-trigger, hyperacute, hypersensitive, oversensitive, supersensitive

Near Antonyms bad, deadened, dimmed, dull, dulled, fading; dead, imperceptive, insensible, insensitive, numb; imprecise, inaccurate

2

being in a situation where one is likely to meet with harm <she's very sensitive to the sun and will burn if she's outside for any amount of time>

Synonyms endangered, exposed, open, sensitive, subject (to), susceptible, vulnerable

Related Words likely, prone; uncovered, undefended, unguarded, unprotected, unscreened, unsecured

Near Antonyms covered, guarded, protected, safeguarded, screened, secured, sheltered, shielded, warded

Antonyms insusceptible, invulnerable, unexposed, unsusceptible

3

easily injured without careful handling <the sensitive skin of a newborn mouse>

Synonyms delicate, fragile, frail, sensitive

Related Words breakable, brittle, crushable, eggshell, frangible, friable; feeble, flimsy, puny, slight, soft, tenuous, weak; nonhardy, perishable, resistless, susceptible, unresistant, vulnerable, yielding

Near Antonyms durable, firm, flinty, hard, hardy, resistant, robust, rugged, solid, sound, stiff, stout, strong, sturdy, substantial; infrangible, nonbreakable, unbreakable; hardened, inured, strengthened, tempered, toughened

Antonyms tough

4

of or relating to physical sensation or the senses <sensitive data>

Synonyms sensational, sensitive, sensorial, sensuous

Related Words afferent, receptive; sensate, sensual

Near Antonyms extrasensory, intuitional

5

requiring exceptional skill or caution in performance or handling <pointing out to the boss that she's wrong is always a sensitive task>

Synonyms catchy, delicate, difficult, dodgy [chiefly British], hairy, knotty, nasty, prickly, problematic (also problematical), sensitive, spiny, sticky, thorny, ticklish, touchy, tough, tricksy

Related Words abstract, abstruse, complex, complicated, hard, intricate, involved, recondite, serious; problem, scabrous, stubborn, troublesome, troublous, vexatious, vexing, worrisome; burdensome, demanding, discommoding, exacting, exhausting, importunate, inconvenient, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful

Near Antonyms easy, effortless, manageable, painless, simple, straightforward, uncomplicated, undemanding, unproblematic