INSENSITIVITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does insensitivity mean? 

• INSENSITIVITY (noun)
  The noun INSENSITIVITY has 1 sense:

1. the inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment

  Familiarity information: INSENSITIVITY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSENSITIVITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

insensitiveness; insensitivity

Hypernyms ("insensitivity" is a kind of...):

inability; unfitness (lacking the power to perform)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "insensitivity"):

crassitude; crassness (the quality of being crass--devoid of refinement)

tin ear (insensitivity to the appropriateness or subtlety of language)

callosity; callousness; hardness; insensibility; unfeelingness (devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness)

unperceptiveness (the lack of insight and sympathetic understanding)

unkindness (lack of sympathy)

Antonym:

sensitivity (the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment)

Derivation:

insensitive (deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive)

 Context examples 

It can also cause insensitivity to a stimulus.

(Dysesthesia, NCI Dictionary)

Mutations in the gene are associated with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome.

(AR wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Further, mutations in the gene are associated with congenital insensitivity to pain, anhidrosis, self-mutilating behavior, mental retardation and several other cancers.

(NTRK1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Diabetes insipidus caused by insensitivity of the kidneys to antidiuretic hormone.

(Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus, NCI Thesaurus)

It is proposed that exposure to high-fat diets for long periods of time lead to insensitivity to leptin's appetite-suppressing effects, and so NPGL — even at normal levels — leads to weight gain and obesity, showing that the body can only do so much to keep our weight in check.

(New Appetite Control Mechanism Found in Brain, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular cells, producing hypokalemic alkalosis and hyperaldosteronism, characterized by absence of hypertension in the presence of markedly increased plasma renin concentrations, and by insensitivity to the pressor effects of angiotensin.

(Bartter Syndrome, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)