insusceptible

American  

[in-suh-sep-tuh-buhl] / ˌɪn səˈsɛp tə bəl /

adjective

1. not susceptible; incapable of being influenced or affected (usually followed by of orto ).

   insusceptible of flattery; insusceptible to infection.

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insusceptible British  

/ ˌɪnsəˈsɛptəbəl /

adjective

1. not capable of being affected (by); not susceptible (to)

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Other Word Forms

• insusceptibility noun
• insusceptibly adverb

Etymology

Origin of insusceptible

First recorded in 1595–1605; in- ³ + susceptible

Explanation

If you're insusceptible to something, you're unlikely to be harmed or affected by it. The comic book hero Superman is famously insusceptible to everything except for Kryptonite; it's the only substance to which he's vulnerable. If you've had the chicken pox vaccine, you'll be insusceptible to the chicken pox virus, and if you aren't interested in music, you're probablykrypto insusceptible to a particularly poignant, bittersweet melody that makes your friend cry. Kids who are insusceptible to TV commercials don't pay any attention to them (and don't beg their parents for the latest toys).

Example Sentences

They have done it, in many instances, with a boldness they were thought insusceptible of.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

Life itself is insusceptible of any definition which satisfies, but we know that we live, nevertheless.

From A Little Book for Christmas by Brady, Cyrus Townsend

They knew Mrs. Hilary to be a muddled bigot, whose mind was stuffed with concrete instances and insusceptible of abstract reason.

From Dangerous Ages by Macaulay, Rose, Dame

These grave questions are as yet insusceptible of answer.

From The Teacher Essays and Addresses on Education by Palmer, Alice Freeman

Still it is idle to deny that the doctrines are insusceptible of proof.

From The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I. A Judge of the High Court of Justice by Stephen, Leslie, Sir