susceptible
Americanadjective
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admitting or capable of some specified treatment.
susceptible of a high polish; susceptible to various interpretations.
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accessible or especially liable or subject to some influence, mood, agency, etc..
susceptible to colds; susceptible to flattery.
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capable of being affected emotionally; impressionable.
adjective
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(postpositive; foll by of or to) yielding readily (to); capable (of)
hypotheses susceptible of refutation
susceptible to control
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liable to be afflicted (by)
susceptible to colds
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easily impressed emotionally
Other Word Forms
- nonsusceptible adjective
- nonsusceptibleness noun
- nonsusceptibly adverb
- oversusceptible adjective
- oversusceptibleness noun
- oversusceptibly adverb
- presusceptible adjective
- susceptibleness noun
- susceptibly adverb
- unsusceptible adjective
- unsusceptibleness noun
- unsusceptibly adverb
Etymology
Origin of susceptible
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
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.
"Pakistan could be susceptible to allegations that it was naive," he says of that scenario.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
These suits claim that developers created, or refused to provide, certain features that made them especially susceptible to harm and misuse.
From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026
“Fuel price is more susceptible to supply weakness on the West Coast than anywhere else in the country,” Kirby said in an interview.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2026
As the most open of the global economies, Lagarde points out that Europe is, therefore, susceptible to spikes in energy prices, like that of 2022 and this most recent crisis with Iran.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026
As a result, hundreds of millions of people were now susceptible to getting yellow fever and other deadly diseases carried by Aedes aegypti.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
