Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Excessively or abnormally sensitive: Describes a state of being overly responsive or reactive to physical, emotional, or environmental stimuli. This can refer to an extreme physical reaction, such as an allergy, or an extreme emotional reaction.
   • Having an allergy or peculiar/excessive susceptibility: Specifically denotes an unusually strong physical reaction to a particular substance or factor.

Usage

The word "hypersensitive" is used to describe a condition or a person's state where the normal level of sensitivity is greatly exceeded. It is often used in medical/biological contexts (e.g., allergies, immune responses) and psychological/social contexts (e.g., emotions, criticism).

Examples

• Medical Context:
  • She is hypersensitive to penicillin and must avoid it. (She has a severe allergic reaction to penicillin.)
  • His skin became hypersensitive after the treatment, reacting to even mild soaps. (His skin became abnormally sensitive.)
• Emotional/Behavioral Context:
  • He's hypersensitive to criticism and gets upset over minor feedback. (He reacts excessively to criticism.)
  • The political climate has made people hypersensitive to certain words. (People have become overly reactive to specific language.)

Advanced Usage

• "hypersensitive to": This is the standard prepositional phrase used to indicate the specific trigger.
  • The patient is hypersensitive to a range of environmental triggers.
• Used in technical/scientific writing to describe biological mechanisms.
  • The study focused on hypersensitive immune responses in autoimmune disorders.

Variants and Related Words

• Hypersensitivity (noun): The condition or quality of being hypersensitive.
  • Skin hypersensitivity is a common side effect.
• Hypersensitize (verb, less common): To make hypersensitive.
  • Repeated exposure can hypersensitize the immune system.

Synonyms

• Allergic: Having an allergy; often used interchangeably in medical contexts for physical reactions.
• Oversensitive: Excessively sensitive; more common for emotional/psychological contexts.
• Supersensitive: Very sensitive; similar in meaning.
• Touchy: Easily offended or upset; informal, usually for emotional sensitivity.

Antonyms

• Insensitive: Not sensitive or responsive.
• Tolerant: Able to endure or accept something without adverse reaction.
• Desensitized: Made less sensitive.

Notes

• In medicine, "hypersensitivity" has specific classifications (Type I-IV) describing different immune reaction mechanisms.
• In everyday language, calling someone "hypersensitive" can sometimes carry a negative or dismissive connotation regarding their emotional reactions.

Adjective

1. having an allergy or peculiar or excessive susceptibility (especially to a specific factor)
   • allergic children
   • hypersensitive to pollen