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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desensitized
Adjective
-
Son Hee is one half of a ruthless twin assassin duo, working alongside his brother Bacho.—
Allison DeGrushe Published,
EW.com,
14 July 2025 -
Her 6-0, 6-0 rout at the hands of a ruthless Iga Świątek was a reminder that no sport is more psychologically brutal than tennis.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
Beyond the numbers is the human toll of Trump’s merciless campaign.—
South Florida Sun Sentinel,
Sun Sentinel,
21 July 2025
-
Private equity moving into professional sports conjures the same fears of merciless efficiency in an industry driven by sentimentality, but Arougheti brushes off the concerns, arguing that institutional capital will increase profitability and allow owners to invest more in their teams.—
Leo Schwartz,
Fortune,
21 July 2025
Adjective
-
The update follows an outcry by city leaders who criticized Humphrey, who said his comment was insensitive.—
Killian Baarlaer,
Louisville Courier Journal,
24 July 2025
-
That the group spans artists, writers, musicians and taste-makers within the Black community comes as no surprise as the museum − which has fallen under criticism for insensitive themes in the past − gears up to embrace a gala inextricably bound to Black identity.—
Kaycee Sloan,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Whether those numbers are an overstatement, or possibly an understatement, is hard to say.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
13 Feb. 2023
Adjective
-
Sounds more like Lex Luthor at his most self-serving and callous.—
ML Cavanaugh,
Twin Cities,
20 July 2025
-
The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous — as is the administration’s choice to remove the ‘T’ from the acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ in their announcement.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
18 June 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Desensitized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desensitized. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share