hypersensitize

[ hahy-per-sen-si-tahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, hy·per·sen·si·tized, hy·per·sen·si·tiz·ing.

1. Photography. to treat (a film or emulsion) so as to increase its speed.
2. Pathology. to strongly heighten a reaction upon reexposure to a particular antigen.

hypersensitize

/ ˌhaɪpəˈsɛnsɪˌtaɪz /

verb

1. tr to treat (a photographic emulsion), usually after manufacture and shortly before exposure, to increase its speed

Derived Forms

• ˌhyperˌsensitiˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• hyper·sensi·ti·zation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypersensitize¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; hypersensit(ive) + -ize

Example Sentences

Sensitiveness is of course dependent on other factors, as for instance lack of outdoor air and of oxygenization, which actually seems to hypersensitize people so that even very slight pain becomes extremely difficult to bear, but the question of attention, which is after all almost entirely a voluntary matter, has more to do with making pain harder to bear than anything else.

From Project Gutenberg

According to Dr. Claudia Miller of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, repeated exposure to toxins given off by molds and bacteria may hypersensitize people to the point that they react to even low levels of these toxins.

From Time Magazine Archive