sen‧si‧tive S3 W3 / sensətɪv, sensɪtɪv / 形容词
1 understanding people able to understand other people’s feelings and problems 反义词 insensitive :
a sensitive and intelligent young man
sensitive to
It’s made me much more sensitive to the needs of the disabled.
2 easily offended easily upset or offended by events or things that people say :
a very sensitive child
sensitive about
Laura’s sensitive about her weight.
sensitive to
Throughout her career she remained very sensitive to criticism.
sensitive soul British English (= someone who is easily upset by small or unimportant things ) → hypersensitive
3 easily affected easily affected or damaged by something such as a substance or temperature :
Wetlands are environmentally sensitive areas.
a baby’s sensitive skin
sensitive to
Older people tend to be very sensitive to cold.
Increasing numbers of people are sensitive to cow’s milk.
4 situation/subject a situation or subject that is sensitive needs to be dealt with very carefully, because it is secret or because it may offend people :
Abortion is a very sensitive issue.
sensitive matters such as national security
highly sensitive information
5 reacting to changes reacting to very small changes in light, temperature, position etc :
a highly sensitive electronic camera
light-sensitive/heat-sensitive etc
light-sensitive photographic paper
6 art/music etc able to understand or express yourself through art, music, literature etc :
a very sensitive performance
— sensitively 副词 :
It is an issue which needs to be handled sensitively.
THESAURUS
secret known about by only a few people, who have agreed not to tell anyone else : a secret meeting place | The details of the proposal must remain secret.
confidential used about information, especially in business or government, that is secret and not intended to be shown or told to other people : a highly confidential report | Employees’ personal details are treated as strictly confidential.
classified used about information that the government has ordered to be kept secret from most people : He was accused of passing on classified information to the Russians in the 1950s.
sensitive used about information that is kept secret because there would be problems if the wrong people knew it : A teenager managed to hack into sensitive US Air Force files.
covert [仅用于名词前] used about things that are done secretly, especially by a government or official organization : a CIA covert operation
undercover [通常用于名词前] used about things that are done secretly by the police in order to catch criminals or find out information : Detectives arrested the suspect after a five-day undercover operation.
underground an underground organization or newspaper is one that operates or is produced secretly and opposes the government : Her father was a member of the underground resistance movement in France during World War II.
clandestine / klændestən, klændestɪn / secret and often illegal or immoral : clandestine meetings | his involvement in a clandestine operation to sell arms to Iran | a clandestine love affair
hush-hush informal used about information or activities that are kept officially secret : He was put in charge of some hush-hush military project. | I’ve no idea what he does – it’s all very hush-hush.