Hay fever is an allergic response – the cells lining the nose become oversensitive to pollen (and in other cases, to house dustmites or animal fur) and release chemicals such as histamines that inflame the nose (rhinitis) and eyes (conjunctivitis).
Yes, women can be oversensitive when it comes to discussions about childbirth and parenting – when comments like "I don't know how you work and raise children" sound to a tired mother's ears more like "I don't know how you can bear to leave your children to go to the office!" But people really do talk the most astonishing load of cobblers on these subjects.
Yet some news organisations have been oversensitive in shying away from admitting the tribal aspect of the conflict in instances such as the recent bloodbath in the city of Bor, where members of the Nuer tribe furiously set about Dinkas.
In his unsettling take on these facts, Justice Kennedy's ruling denied the validity of their alienation from the public affairs of their hometown and disparaged their allegations as the mere whining of oversensitive dissidents.
Arabs, Europeans and critics from the left charge him with being timid and oversensitive to domestic politics; with lacking strategic vision; with being locked into black-and-white views that overlook useful ambiguities; and with substituting lofty talk for firm action.This is not entirely fair.
And some sorry souls go into shock at the mere presence of certain foods, particularly peanuts and shellfish.The cause in each case is an oversensitive immune system that is reacting to harmless materials as well as to the pathogens it is supposed to be fighting.
The minister of sports, Makhenkesi Stofile, has also complained that sports, and rugby in particular, were not changing fast enough.But some South African sportsmen think that the people who run sport have now become oversensitive on this score.
Those accustomed to good roads may grumble more loudly about much smaller shortcomings.Combined indices can also be oversensitive to updates.
At heart they knew I was as bookish and oversensitive as they were.
So while his critique would likely have done little harm to Hibiscus's reputation, the chef's absurdly oversensitive reaction will surely have put off a few prospective diners.
Asthma, which affects an estimated five million people in Britain, is characterised by oversensitive airways in the lungs which react to irritants in the air such as pollution and tobacco smoke.
