sensitiveness

sen·si·tive  (sns-tv)

adj.

1. Capable of perceiving with a sense or senses.

2. Responsive to external conditions or stimulation.

3. Susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others.

4. Quick to take offense; touchy.

5. Easily irritated: sensitive skin.

6. Readily altered by the action of an agent: film that is sensitive to light.

7. Registering very slight differences or changes of condition. Used of an instrument.

8. Fluctuating or tending to fluctuate, as in price: sensitive stocks.

9. Of or relating to classified information: sensitive defense data; holds a sensitive position in the State Department.

n.

1. A sensitive person.

2. One held to be endowed with psychic or occult powers.

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[Middle English, from Old French sensitif, from Medieval Latin snsitvus, from Latin snsus, sense; see sense.]

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sensi·tive·ly adv.

sensi·tive·ness n.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	sensitiveness - sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others) sensitivity feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual" oversensitiveness - sensitivity leading to easy irritation or upset sensibility - refined sensitivity to pleasurable or painful impressions; "cruelty offended his sensibility" feelings - emotional or moral sensitivity (especially in relation to personal principles or dignity); "the remark hurt his feelings"
	2.	sensitiveness - (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation; "sensitivity to pain" sensitivity, sensibility sensory faculty, sentiency, sentience, sense, sensation - the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; "in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing" acuteness - a sensitivity that is keen and highly developed; "dogs have a remarkable acuteness of smell" hypersensitivity - extreme sensitivity reactivity, responsiveness - responsive to stimulation exteroception - sensitivity to stimuli originating outside of the body interoception - sensitivity to stimuli originating inside of the body photosensitivity, radiosensitivity - sensitivity to the action of radiant energy physiology - the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms
	3.	sensitiveness - the ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences; "a galvanometer of extreme sensitivity"; "the sensitiveness of Mimosa leaves does not depend on a change of growth" sensitivity physical property - any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions frequency response - (electronics) a curve representing the output-to-input ratio of a transducer as a function of frequency
	4.	sensitiveness - the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment sensitivity antenna, feeler - sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ; "he had a special antenna for public relations" defensiveness - excessive sensitivity to criticism; "his defensiveness was manifested in hurt silence"; "the fear of being sued for malpractice has magnified physicians' defensiveness" perceptiveness - the quality of insight and sympathetic understanding ability - the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment insensitiveness, insensitivity - the inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment