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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Russo, who has avoided serious injury and is set to return to play for Arsenal this month, is an out-and-out centre-forward, a grafter who uses her strength to take care of the ball and stitch play, but is also becoming a more ruthless penalty-box striker.—
Charlotte Harpur,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025 -
The way to move up in your organization might require being ruthless.—
Roberta Matuson,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Lottie proposes that Natalie be stripped of her title and that the merciless and vicious Shauna should lead them instead.—
Erin Qualey,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
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The animal is fully present, merciless and hungry.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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In more recent years, comedy has come under fire for being insensitive and inciting scandals.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
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On Española Island, some individuals do more than just peck at wounds to drink blood—they have been seen persistently pecking at the insensitive tail tips of large marine iguanas, removing centimeters of actual tissue in the process.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
18 Mar. 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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But accusations of this decision being callous don’t resonate with Mason.—
Marco della Cava,
USA TODAY,
11 Mar. 2025
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Meanwhile, Odell and his potential heirs, callous Belinda (Téa Leoni) and sleazeball Shepard (scene-stealer Will Poulter), take the discovery of a new species to unethical extremes.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Desensitized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desensitized. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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