susceptibility

[ suh-sep-tuh-bil-i-tee ]

noun

, plural sus·cep·ti·bil·i·ties.

1. state or character of being susceptible:

   susceptibility to disease.

2. capacity for receiving mental or moral impressions; tendency to be emotionally affected.
3. susceptibilities, capacities for emotion; feelings:

   His susceptibilities are easily wounded.

4. Electricity.
   1. electric susceptibility.
   2. magnetic susceptibility.

susceptibility

/ səˌsɛptəˈbɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. the quality or condition of being susceptible
2. the ability or tendency to be impressed by emotional feelings; sensitivity
3. plural emotional sensibilities; feelings
4. physics
   1. Also calledelectric susceptibility (of a dielectric) the amount by which the relative permittivity differs from unity Χ
   2. Also calledmagnetic susceptibility (of a magnetic medium) the amount by which the relative permeability differs from unity Κ

Other Words From

• nonsus·cepti·bili·ty noun
• over·sus·cepti·bili·ty noun
• presus·cepti·bili·ty noun plural presusceptibilities
• unsus·cepti·bili·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of susceptibility¹

First recorded in 1635–45; from Medieval Latin susceptibilitās, equivalent to susceptibilis(is) susceptible + -itās- -ity

Synonym Study

See sensibility.

Example Sentences

Those variants aren’t necessarily the genetic tweaks that lead to more severe disease, but they flag that one or more genes in the region might be responsible for increasing susceptibility to the coronavirus.

From Science News

One of the biggest problems facing quantum computers is their susceptibility to disturbances, which can easily introduce errors into their calculations.

From Singularity Hub 

Scientists have speculated other factors influence susceptibility, including pre-existing levels of inflammation and immunity, the amount of virus that starts an infection, and patients’ genetic makeup.

From Fortune

In May, they tangled over children’s susceptibility to the coronavirus.

From Washington Post

However, in an ongoing pandemic with no guarantee that a vaccine will be available anytime soon, the heterogeneity of susceptibility has real implications for the disease’s herd immunity threshold.

From Quanta Magazine

Arsenic can also cause cardiovascular disease, which African-Americans have greater genetic susceptibility for, she said.

From The Daily Beast

One, creative fields differ in many respects, ranging from cost of production to susceptibility to digital copying.

From The Daily Beast

The susceptibility of otherwise sane folks to End Times enthusiasms is odd but perhaps a bit predictable.

From The Daily Beast

Our new hero has found that his capacity for love and his susceptibility to loss are more powerful than his hunger for tail.

From The Daily Beast

There are others who disclose a special susceptibility to the more simple effects of pathos.

From Project Gutenberg

Even orthodoxy must trip it on tiptoe; there was always some prejudice, some susceptibility to consider.

From Project Gutenberg

These were terrific moments; I had already felt them, but never with such intense susceptibility as then.

From Project Gutenberg

She dwelt on the ancestral causes that gave him a nature of exceptional and dangerous susceptibility.

From Project Gutenberg

Or there may be mental weakness and neurotic susceptibility in regard to a special class of impressions.

From Project Gutenberg