as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
having lived through the horrors of war, the soldiers had seemingly become desensitized to virtually all human suffering
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desensitized
Adjective
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Wes Anderson is talking about a surreal moment that occurs early in his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, in which the protagonist, the ruthless international tycoon Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), experiences a vision of the afterlife.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
18 May 2025 -
Ralph Fiennes will play the ruthless Panem dictator in director Francis Lawrence‘s forthcoming film in the franchise, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2025
Adjective
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This time, his assignment takes him to Serbia, as he is tasked with assassinating the merciless General Mile Valstoria (Peter Linka).—
Christopher Rudolph,
People.com,
10 May 2025
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That was 12 years ago, and yet the talk about him continues here, the ghosts live on, and with merciless frequency Lerro privately relives the fateful morning in which a vicious storm descended upon him with no warning.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Potentially, this was insensitive toward families of suicide victims, but none of them were offended.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
11 May 2025
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While some Met Gala attendees came under fire for what were perceived to be historically insensitive fashion choices and others were targeted for wearing lackluster outfits, rap star Doechii was met with mean girl accusations.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
6 May 2025
Adjective
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Sandoval has received some pay bumps, including a temporary $10,000-a-year bonus for Hawaii special education teachers designed to alleviate shortages in that and other hard-to-staff areas.—
Alia Wong,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2023
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Whether those numbers are an overstatement, or possibly an understatement, is hard to say.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
13 Feb. 2023
Adjective
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This version of Johnny is less callous with other people's feelings, and hopefully there's a self-awareness about what's driving that attention-seeking behavior.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
10 Apr. 2025
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The faceoff between Cara and the lion is an unmistakable callback to the series premiere, which opened with Cara gunning down a man in what initially appeared to be a callous act of violence (but is later revealed to be retribution for an assassination attempt on her family).—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
23 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Desensitized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desensitized. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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