sensitivity

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Medicine

n. the quality of being easily affected or hurt by things like light, heat, or certain foods.

n. the state of being physically responsive to external stimuli, often resulting in discomfort or a specific biological reaction.

“She has a strong sensitivity to sunlight and always wears a hat outside.”

“Patients with a known sensitivity to penicillin must be monitored closely for adverse reactions during the initial phase of treatment.”

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Science Technical

n. how well a piece of equipment or a test can detect small changes or signals.

n. the degree to which a measuring instrument or sensor responds to changes in input signals.

“The microphone has high sensitivity, so it can pick up even very quiet sounds.”

“The laboratory upgraded its equipment to increase the sensitivity of the detection process, allowing for the identification of trace elements in the water supply.”

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Medicine Technical · Academic

n. the ability of a test to correctly identify people who have a specific condition.

n. the probability that a binary classification test will correctly identify a true positive.

“The new virus test has 99% sensitivity, meaning it rarely misses a positive case.”

“While the screening tool demonstrated high sensitivity in clinical trials, its low specificity resulted in a significant number of false positives among the general population.”

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun Computing Informal

n. how fast your character moves on the screen when you move your mouse or controller.

n. the ratio of in-game camera or cursor movement relative to the physical movement of an input device.

“I had to lower my mouse sensitivity because the camera was moving too fast.”

“Professional gamers often spend hours fine-tuning their controller sensitivity to find the perfect balance between speed and aiming precision.”