susceptibility

American  

[suh-sep-tuh-bil-i-tee] / səˌsɛp təˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

susceptibilities plural

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 British  

/ 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 called: electric susceptibility.   Χ.  (of a dielectric) the amount by which the relative permittivity differs from unity

   2.  Κ.  Also called: magnetic susceptibility.  (of a magnetic medium) the amount by which the relative permeability differs from unity

---

Synonym Usage

See sensibility.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsusceptibility
  noun
• oversusceptibility
  noun
• presusceptibility
  noun
• unsusceptibility
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• susceptibilities
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

susceptibility susceptibilities

"We can preemptively screen different species and different tissues within them for susceptibility," said Kuchipudi.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

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

Pandemics happen with regularity due to little things like the susceptibility of the human body to illness and international trade and travel.

From Salon ● May 11, 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

The British have already tested a large number of other species for susceptibility to radiation.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

He is one of the 90% of people with so-called idiopathic disease: Their Parkinson’s has no clear genetic cause but almost certainly results from some combination of ill-defined genetic susceptibilities and environmental triggers.

From Science Magazine ● May 4, 2023

Social media, he says, exacerbate some dangerous susceptibilities — to demagoguery and moral vanity — that are neither new nor entirely expungable.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2021

Jeff Bardin, the chief intelligence officer at cybersecurity firm Treadstone 71, told Fox News that almost immediately after Soleimani's death, Iranian hackers began infiltrating U.S. city websites, searching for susceptibilities.

From Fox News ● Jan. 3, 2020

Without the plant host susceptibilities, the pathogen would starve before the plant got sick.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2018

Different results occur because the susceptibilities of organisms vary.

From Determinism or Free-Will? by Cohen, Chapman