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
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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
-
Serenity Maggie’s (and Sweet Magnolias‘) trip to New York was cut short as Season 5 offered a juxtaposition between small-town values and ruthless big-city corporate culture.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
11 June 2026
-
Ruffalo will voice Nero, a scrappy black cat, and Fishburne will play Rocco, a ruthless cat mob boss.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
11 June 2026
Adjective
-
Having catalogued the Black Death’s horrifying effects, Ibn Khatima went on to outline a series of preventative measures and active treatments designed to combat this merciless scourge.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 May 2026
-
The jokes on social media will be endless, and opposing fans will be merciless.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.—
Emily Cox,
ARTnews.com,
22 May 2026
-
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.—
Natasha Bazika,
Martha Stewart,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
White has defended the event against critics, including those who have called it insensitive or unsafe to host a fight at the White House during a war.—
Conor Murray,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
-
But the post has been condemned both inside Colombia and abroad as insensitive.—
Alfie Pannell,
Miami Herald,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
Madonna hunts pheasant in the English countryside, Thomas Edison electrocutes an elephant, Harry Harlow conducts callous experiments on monkeys, and Jimmy Carter fends off a swamp rabbit attack.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 June 2026
-
This is a distortion of the law, and a display of callous indifference to the tragedies that moved Congress to pass the Refugee Act.—
Elizabeth Holtzman,
Time,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
All these years, the stigma stuck no matter how hard the family fought to change the narrative.—
Yumi Asada,
CNN Money,
13 June 2026
-
In lieu of hard liquor, the winner of each round got a blast from a Champagne squirt gun into their mouth.—
Danielle Dorsey,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desensitized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desensitized. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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