susceptibility
Americannoun
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state or character of being susceptible.
susceptibility to disease.
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capacity for receiving mental or moral impressions; tendency to be emotionally affected.
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susceptibilities, capacities for emotion; feelings.
His susceptibilities are easily wounded.
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Electricity.
noun
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the quality or condition of being susceptible
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the ability or tendency to be impressed by emotional feelings; sensitivity
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(plural) emotional sensibilities; feelings
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physics
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Also called: electric susceptibility. Χ. (of a dielectric) the amount by which the relative permittivity differs from unity
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Κ. Also called: magnetic susceptibility. (of a magnetic medium) the amount by which the relative permeability differs from unity
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Synonym Usage
See sensibility.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of susceptibility
First recorded in 1635–45; from Medieval Latin susceptibilitās, equivalent to susceptibilis(is) susceptible + -itās- -ity
Explanation
Susceptibility is a tendency to be affected by something. Some people have a greater susceptibility to colds than others. A susceptibility is a type of weakness, but a particular kind. If your knee keeps getting injured, you may have a susceptibility to knee problems. If alcoholism runs in your family, you probably have a susceptibility to being an alcoholic yourself. Some people have a susceptibility to spending a lot of money or eating too much. When you have a susceptibility, there's something you can't resist or can't fight off.
Vocabulary lists containing susceptibility
This Week in Words: April 7- 13, 2018
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The Awakening
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"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," Vocabulary from the political argument
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The temperamental little, yellow fruit with its susceptibility to heavy rain and viruses can be tough to grow, while devastating hurricanes in Jamaica, a prime producer of Scotch bonnets, delivered a further blow.
From BBC • May 31, 2026
The neutron scattering and AC magnetic susceptibility work at Rice was supported by the U.S.
From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026
A lack of trust in government and health systems in the UK "underlaid susceptibility to false information", it added, and said action was needed to rebuild public trust in vaccines more generally.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
Just as important, I’m using AI to tame my human susceptibility to praise, so that when I do get a sycophantic response to my prompts, I take it with a hearty grain of salt.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026
To confirm the diagnosis, samples of each patient’s TB had to be regrown in cultures and tested for drug susceptibility.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
