susceptible

sus·cep·ti·ble

adjective \sə-ˈsep-tə-bəl\

Definition of SUSCEPTIBLE

1

: capable of submitting to an action, process, or operation <a theory susceptible to proof>

2

: open, subject, or unresistant to some stimulus, influence, or agency <susceptible to pneumonia>

3

: impressionable, responsive <a susceptible mind>

— sus·cep·ti·ble·ness noun

— sus·cep·ti·bly \-blē\ adverb

Examples of SUSCEPTIBLE

1. The virus can infect susceptible individuals.
2. <some people are more susceptible to depression during the winter because of reduced exposure to sunlight>
3. Researchers at the University of South Carolina say that a chemical found abundantly in red wine, apples and onions helps protect against influenza, especially after a rigorous respiratory workout, when the body is more susceptible to infection. —Kim Marcus et al., Wine Spectator, 31 May 2009
4. Women were especially susceptible to his … charm, and he maintained dozens of relationships simultaneously. When he was finally being tried for his crimes, 20 women sat together in the courthouse's public galleries, weeping: mistresses, lovers and admirers, all convinced of Unterweger's innocence. —Robert MacFarlane, New York Times Book Review, 13 Jan. 2008
5. He grew up during the heyday of the Hegelian philosophy, which sought to explain all things in terms of historical development, but conceived this process as being ultimately not susceptible to the methods of empirical investigation. —Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the Fox, (1953) 1978

Origin of SUSCEPTIBLE

Late Latin susceptibilis, from Latin susceptus, past participle of suscipere to take up, admit, from sub-, sus- up + capere to take — more at sub-, heave

First Known Use: 1605

Related to SUSCEPTIBLE

Synonyms

endangered, exposed, open, sensitive, subject (to), liable, vulnerable

Antonyms

insusceptible, invulnerable, unexposed, unsusceptible

Related Words

likely, prone; uncovered, undefended, unguarded, unprotected, unscreened, unsecured

Near Antonyms

covered, guarded, protected, safeguarded, screened, secured, sheltered, shielded, warded

See Synonym Discussion at liable

Rhymes with SUSCEPTIBLE

acceptable, perceptible