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Prepositions after adjectives

Sensitive with prepositions

Sensitive to is the most common pattern. Sensitive about is also common for personal feelings and reactions.

Quick answer

Which preposition follows sensitive?

Use sensitive to for physical, emotional, or social responsiveness. Use sensitive about for topics that make someone uncomfortable. Sensitive in can describe behaviour in a situation. Sensitive for and sensitive at are uncommon and usually not standard adjective patterns.

She is sensitive to noise.
He is sensitive about his accent.
The teacher was sensitive in dealing with the complaint.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
sensitive to + stimulus

Reacting strongly to something

Use sensitive to for emotional, physical, or technical responsiveness.

Many people are sensitive to caffeine.
The market is sensitive to political changes.
2
sensitive about + topic

Feeling easily hurt or embarrassed

Use sensitive about for personal subjects that cause discomfort.

She is sensitive about her height.
He became sensitive about criticism.
3
sensitive in + situation

Showing care in behaviour

Use sensitive in when describing tactful behaviour in a particular context.

The nurse was sensitive in speaking to the family.
Managers should be sensitive in performance reviews.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
sensitive to
Children can be sensitive to cold weather.
Easily affected by something.
sensitive about
He is sensitive about his age.
Emotionally uncomfortable about a topic.
sensitive in
She was sensitive in handling the discussion.
Showing tact in a situation.
sensitive for
This sensor is designed for low light.
Sensitive for is generally not idiomatic after the adjective sensitive.
sensitive at
She is good at noticing mood changes.
Sensitive at is not a standard adjective pattern.

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using sensitive for after the adjective

Sensitive for is usually not idiomatic in modern English.

✕ He is sensitive for noise. ✓ He is sensitive to noise.

Confusing sensitive about and sensitive to

About is for emotional topics; to is for reactions or effects.

✕ She is sensitive to her appearance. ✓ She is sensitive about her appearance.

Using at after sensitive

Sensitive at is not standard in this structure.

✕ The child is sensitive at criticism. ✓ The child is sensitive to criticism.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. Some animals are very ___ sound.
2. He is ___ his hair loss.
3. The manager was ___ handling the complaint.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the most common preposition after sensitive?

Sensitive to is the standard and most widely used pattern.

Can I say sensitive about something?

Yes. It means emotionally affected or easily embarrassed by a topic.

Is sensitive for correct?

It is generally not used as a normal adjective pattern in current English.

sacred-to-in-by-of, for "sad for" or "sad about"? "safe for", "safe from" or "safe in"? sanguine about, in, of, on or for? "satisfactory to" or "satisfactory for"? satisfied with, of, by, in or on? "satisfying for" or "satisfying to"? scarce in, for, at, on or of? scared of, to, about, for or by? "scary for" or "scary to"? "scathing about", "scathing in" or "scathing of"? "sceptical about" or "sceptical of"?

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