hypersensitize
Make excessively reactive
To hypersensitize is to make something extremely sensitive, especially in photography, where it refers to treating film or plates to increase their sensitivity to light before exposure.
The term also appears in medical contexts for deliberately inducing heightened allergic sensitivity: The patient was hypersensitized to the allergen for testing purposes.
More generally, it describes any process of making something—or someone—unusually reactive to stimuli.
Increase in degree
- sharpenMake keener or finer
- amplifyIncrease in strength
- intensifyIncrease in degree
- enhanceIncrease in quality
acuity · awareness · perception · stimuli · threshold · receptors · responsiveness · excitability
Respond disproportionately to something
- touchyEasily upset or offended
- thin-skinnedEasily hurt by remarks
- reactiveTending to respond
- volatileLiable to sudden change
temperamental · neurotic · anxious · defensive · overwrought · hypervigilant · triggered · fragile
Protein targeting foreign substances
- immune responseBody fighting foreign threats
- lymphocyteImmune system white cell
- T-cellThymus-derived immune lymphocyte
- primingMaking ready beforehand
inoculation · exposure · tolerance · conditioning · induction · preconditioning · immunization · autoimmune
Immune response trigger
- antigenImmune response inducer
- anaphylaxisSevere systemic allergic reaction
- histamineAllergy-response compound
- immunoglobulinDefensive blood protein
epinephrine · sensitization · immunotherapy · desensitization · pollen · dust mites · pet dander · mold spores
Open to attack
- susceptibleEasily influenced or harmed
- predisposeCreate prior susceptibility
- proneInclined or face-down
- at-riskSubject to potential harm
exposed · defenseless · weakened · compromised · permeable · primed · conditioned · reactive
heighten
Increase in degree
enhance · acuity · awareness · perception · stimuli · threshold · receptors · responsiveness · excitability · reactivity
overreact
Respond disproportionately to something
- touchyEasily upset or offended
- thin-skinnedEasily hurt by remarks
- reactiveTending to respond
volatile · temperamental · neurotic · anxious · defensive · overwrought · hypervigilant · triggered · fragile · easily offended
antibody
Protein targeting foreign substances
- immune responseBody fighting foreign threats
- lymphocyteImmune system white cell
- T-cellThymus-derived immune lymphocyte
priming · inoculation · exposure · tolerance · conditioning · induction · preconditioning · immunization · autoimmune · inflammatory
allergen
Immune response trigger
- antigenImmune response inducer
- anaphylaxisSevere systemic allergic reaction
- histamineAllergy-response compound
immunoglobulin · epinephrine · sensitization · immunotherapy · desensitization · pollen · dust mites · pet dander · mold spores · shellfish
vulnerable
Open to attack
- susceptibleEasily influenced or harmed
- predisposeCreate prior susceptibility
- proneInclined or face-down
at-risk · exposed · defenseless · weakened · compromised · permeable · primed · conditioned · reactive · easily affected
hypersensitizedesensitize
Reduce responsiveness over time
hyposensitize · desensitise · desensitization · immunize · habituate
hypersensitive, hypersensitivity, hypersensitized, hypersensitizes, hypersensitizing