susceptible

[ suh-sep-tuh-buhl ]

adjective

1. admitting or capable of some specified treatment:

   susceptible of a high polish; susceptible to various interpretations.

2. accessible or especially liable or subject to some influence, mood, agency, etc.:

   susceptible to colds; susceptible to flattery.

3. capable of being affected emotionally; impressionable.

susceptible

/ səˈsɛptəbəl /

adjective

1. postpositive; foll by of or to yielding readily (to); capable (of)

   hypotheses susceptible of refutation

   susceptible to control

2. postpositivefoll byto liable to be afflicted (by)

   susceptible to colds

3. easily impressed emotionally

Derived Forms

• susˈceptibleness, noun
• susˈceptibly, adverb

Other Words From

• sus·cepti·ble·ness noun
• sus·cepti·bly adverb
• nonsus·cepti·ble adjective
• nonsus·cepti·ble·ness noun
• nonsus·cepti·bly adverb
• over·sus·cepti·ble adjective
• over·sus·cepti·ble·ness noun
• over·sus·cepti·bly adverb
• presus·cepti·ble adjective
• unsus·cepti·ble adjective
• unsus·cepti·ble·ness noun
• unsus·cepti·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of susceptible¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Late Latin susceptibilis, from suscept(us) “taken up” (past participle of suscipere “to take up, support,” from sus- sus- + -cipere, combining form of capere “to take”) + -ibilis -ible

Word History and Origins

Origin of susceptible¹

C17: from Late Latin susceptibilis, from Latin suscipere to take up, from sub- + capere to take

Example Sentences

As our immune response to them wanes, we once again become susceptible to them.

From Science News For Students

Also notable, they recommend requiring that a home seller, for instance, disclose whether the property was susceptible to coastal flooding during a real estate transaction.

From Voice of San Diego

One effect is that the pool of susceptible individuals has been depleted in many areas.

From MIT Technology Review

In these children, who showed no outward symptoms of compromised immunity, he has found defects in genes that make them susceptible to severe infection with a single pathogen.

From Quanta Magazine

At first the virus infects people who are more susceptible and spreads quickly.

From Quanta Magazine

Once people with ID are arrested, they are particularly susceptible to making coerced and often false confessions.

From The Daily Beast

These studies only speak to one of our ingrained mental habits that make us particularly susceptible to religious belief.

From The Daily Beast

Of these, 2.5 million are under the age of five and most susceptible to childhood diseases.

From The Daily Beast

Once RB was turned off, female cells were equally susceptible to becoming cancerous.

From The Daily Beast

Catholics, Jews, Italians, and Greeks were thought to be particularly susceptible.

From The Daily Beast

Nearly every acre I have seen is susceptible of cultivation, and of course either cultivated, built upon, or devoted to wood.

From Project Gutenberg

They are more susceptible to the horrors and discomforts of what they were never brought up to undergo.

From Project Gutenberg

It is of an exceedingly hard, densely compact nature; from its hardness difficult to work, but susceptible of a very high polish.

From Project Gutenberg

And another has on show fine papers as susceptible of receiving good impressions from type as any in use in modern books.

From Project Gutenberg

The soft material lying between these is very susceptible to damp, especially when fresh cut.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• affected
• easy
• impressionable
• inclined
• liable
• prone
• ready
• receptive
• responsive
• sensitive
• vulnerable
• wide open