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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of desensitized
Although today’s audiences might be more desensitized to such gruesome scenes thanks to hyperrealistic special effects in modern horror movies, and the commonplace spread of graphic clips online, audiences of the ‘80s were reportedly traumatized and scandalized.
—
Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
While the effects of violent media on viewers are notoriously hard to study, some evidence suggests that some audiences can become desensitized to the real-world consequences of unhealthy and violent content.
—Cynthia Chris, The Conversation, 19 Feb. 2026
Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
While the effects of violent media on viewers are notoriously hard to study, some evidence suggests that some audiences can become desensitized to the real-world consequences of unhealthy and violent content.
—Cynthia Chris, The Conversation, 19 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desensitized
Adjective
-
Reduce Wasted Spend to Fund Your Next Project Founders are ruthless about cutting overhead, yet many creatives let thousands of dollars leak away on essential work expenses like software subscriptions, tech and supplies.—
Rhett Power,
Rolling Stone,
6 May 2026
-
Stéphane de Groodt also appears, while Jochen Hägele plays the ruthless Nazi officer Dieter Frank.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Development in the Dotte 🪠 Fish or human feces often wash up in KCK homes during those merciless spring rains.—
Sofi Zeman,
Kansas City Star,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Fleeing into the desert with her father, she is hunted by a merciless army and forced to trust a legendary bandit (Mackie) with secrets of his own.—
Mark Meszoros,
Twin Cities,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In a vast stony tract of desert a three-hour drive south of Cairo, tucked between jagged black mountains and the glittering Gulf of Suez, a group of Chinese engineers is quietly rewiring Egypt’s energy strategy.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Hikers can traverse the stony beds of Cliffy Creek and snap photos of the park's four iconic waterfalls.—
Joie Probst,
Midwest Living,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The next three lines modify Vim’s search behavior, making all-lowercase searches case-insensitive but keeping mixed-case searches case-sensitive and highlighting all the search results at once.—
Lee Hutchinson,
ArsTechnica,
6 May 2026
-
Our hands soon became insensitive, clumsy hooks.—
Jim Hoagland,
Outdoor Life,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As Tiffany, Brittany Bradford can turn on a dime from hilarious (in her college open mic-night debut) to callous and cold.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Drenched in sweat from the heat, Pickford would burn through work gloves and callous his hands.—
Scott Wheeler,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
San Diego is still young, especially in the back, and is learning hard MLS lessons in real time.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 May 2026
-
It’s often been hard to be a local sports fan in Connecticut.—
P.R. Lockhart,
Hartford Courant,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desensitized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desensitized. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
