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
-
The film follows Bryan, a Korean American teenager who wants out of his ruthless gang the Goblins, setting the stage for gang retribution against him.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
7 Mar. 2025 -
But Harrison’s anti-expansionist successor, Grover Cleveland, abhorred the ruthless U.S. meddling in Hawaiian affairs.—
Robert W. Merry,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
By enumerating the many merciless changes in our government since January, the Rev. Michael Pleger is not making a political pitch.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
-
Waltz lends a slimy charisma to the merciless SS colonel, who gets a satisfying comeuppance via carving knife. 4.—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
However, given the sensitive nature of the Epstein files and the horrific crimes that Jeffrey Epstein was involved in, many derided the attempt at humor as insensitive, inappropriate, and an embarrassing decision.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Gascón is nominated for Leading Actress at the BAFTAs, but is not attending the ceremony after a storm over her racially insensitive X/Twitter posts.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
16 Feb. 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
-
The Gordons have been left deeply screwed up by their deceased father — not just callous and clueless like all the ultra-rich, but unable to maintain healthy relationships with either partners or one another.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
27 Feb. 2025
-
And Musk’s approach so far has been read by many of those most immediately affected as antagonistic, demoralizing and callous.—
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN,
27 Feb. 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 10 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share