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sensitivity

noun

Simple meaning

Responsiveness to external stimuli.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

sehnsihtivihtee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

sɛnsɪˈtɪvɪti

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. biologyphysiology

    Responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation

  2. biology

    The ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences

  3. biology

    The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli.

  4. The quality or state of being sensitive; sensitiveness.

  5. biologymedicineof a pathogen

    Vulnerability to medical treatment: Synonym of susceptibility.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation

Used this way, sensitivity is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Medicine/healthcare
  • Science
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use sensitivity

  • “Sensitivity to pain.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Responsiveness

high sensitivityincreased sensitivitylow sensitivity

Other combinations

sensitivity analysissensitivity trainingspectral sensitivitygreater sensitivityinsulin sensitivity

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: responsiveness to external stimuli

insensitivity

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.