forbidden words: cultural sensitivity

cultural adj. 1: of or relating to culture or culturing 2: concerned with the fostering of plant or animal growth.

from Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass., G. & C. Merriam Co, 1967.

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sensitivity n.

1. the state or quality of being sensitive; sensitiveness.
2. Physiology.
   1. the ability of an organism or part of an organism to react to stimuli; irritability.
   2. degree of susceptibility to stimulation.
3. Electricity.
   1. the ability of a radio device to react to incoming signals, expressed as the minimum input signal required to produce a specified output signal with a given noise level.
   2. the input, as voltage, current, or the like, required to produce full deflection in an electric measuring device, expressed as the ratio of the response to the magnitude of the input quantity.

Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words. (2025c). In Dictionary.com.

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cultural sensitivity n. the awareness, understanding, and respect for the cultural differences and practices of individuals from diverse backgrounds. It involves recognising that cultural norms, values, and behaviours can significantly differ from one group to another. Being culturally sensitive means actively acknowledging these differences and adapting one’s interactions accordingly to foster respectful and harmonious relationships.

from – The Oxford Review, Cultural sensitivity – Definition and Explanation

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example sentences: cultural sensitivity

Supervising international students requires cultural sensitivity.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ethics and cultural sensitivity were also gist (specialist physician).
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Leadership from all societal sectors and participant groups must incorporate cultural sensitivity into future change management.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

What teachers need is linguistic sophistication, pedagogical soundness, and cultural sensitivity.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

But this cultural sensitivity only accentuates the problems inherent in multicultural therapy.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The anecdotes themselves constitute a tutorial on cultural sensitivity in fieldwork.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

This may have honed his skills of cultural sensitivity and accommodation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

It incorporated an acknowledgement of institutional racism, and thus sought to go beyond policies associated with multiculturalism and cultural sensitivity.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ethical issues had also to be taken seriously, for example, linguistic and cultural sensitivity to topics such as death.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Are there issues of cultural sensitivity on the part of traditional practitioners about the non-traditional use of these materials?
From the Cambridge English Corpus

The authors begin a chapter on ‘ cultural sensitivity ‘ by stating that they approached writing the chapter with a sense of foreboding.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Several initiatives, such as increased communication and education, better assessment of health care disparities, and efforts to increase cultural sensitivity, could lessen these differences.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

Part of the difficulty of developing popular theatre through the cultural sensitivity of contemporary music is the way that music symbolizes divergent tendencies in cultural differentiation.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

For this project it was thought that the gains in fluency from translation by qualified translators would be greater than the losses of cultural sensitivity and meaning.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

They complain that there is little cultural sensitivity or understanding once they get to an agency.
From the Hansard archive

He commented that cultural sensitivity is no excuse for moral blindness.
From the Hansard archive

Cultural sensitivity and understanding are also vital.
From Wikipedia

Cultural sensitivity can increase the security of travellers.
From Wikipedia

They are able to operate in areas of political and cultural sensitivity in which government cannot always operate.
From the Hansard archive

The author considers a wide range of motivations for this emerging body of work, surveying the range of approaches that composers have taken, and urges the cultivation of cultural sensitivity.
From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is essential that right of access should be assured although it will often take time to overcome religious and cultural sensitivity.
From the Hansard archive

It is essential that, within any race relations programme, cultural sensitivity programmes should be made available to all our public servants, including police.
From the Hansard archive

No longer is cultural sensitivity needed only for product design destined for diverse markets.
From Wikipedia

from – CULTURAL SENSITIVITY collocation | meaning and examples of use. (2025).

April 26, 2025
Hudson Valley, New York

This is one of the words / combination of words you can’t say in the new Trump Administration. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.

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