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

We find it strong, pliable, insusceptible to either heat or cold and to all appearances will be more durable than anything we have ever used.

From Natural and Artificial Duck Culture by Rankin, James

The same advantage in a greater degree is obtained by vaccination, even in the exceptional instances in which it fails to render the person altogether insusceptible to the disease.

From The Mother's Manual of Children's Diseases by West, Charles

Healthy men and animals often carry the poison, though themselves insusceptible.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

We speak of persons as susceptible or insusceptible to music as we speak of good and poor conductors of electricity; and the analogy implied here is particularly apt and striking.

From How to Listen to Music, 7th ed. Hints and Suggestions to Untaught Lovers of the Art by Krehbiel, Henry Edward

It remains as a pure deduction from the philosophical conception of Monism, incapable of proof, insusceptible of refutation.

From The Arena Volume 18, No. 93, August, 1897 by Various