ˈlīəbəl, especially in sense 3 ˈlībəl adjective
Etymology: from (assumed) Anglo-French, from Old French lier, to bind, tie (from Latin liagre ) + -able — more at ligature
1.
a. : bound or obligated according to law or equity : responsible , answerable
liable for the debts incurred by his wife
also : subject to appropriation or attachment
all his property is liable to pay his debts
b.
(1) : subject to control by — used with to
liable to the driving laws of the state
(2) : being in a position to incur — used with to
liable to the death penalty
those who do not vote are liable to fines — Americana Annual
c. obsolete : belonging to
all that we find … liable to our crown and dignity — Shakespeare
2. obsolete : suitable , fit , apt
3. : exposed or subject to some usually adverse contingency or action : likely
liable to fall
liable to be hurt
these values are liable to fluctuate with every change in the current market — J.A.Hobson
Synonyms:
subject , open , exposed , susceptible , prone , sensitive , incident : liable , now rather wide in its use, may retain its original legalistic suggestion and imply the consequences of the actions of legal authority
liable to military service
liable to be fined
or range variously between this use and employment as a very close synonym for likely; however used, it often though by no means always implies that the likely development will be unpleasant
liable to be burned at the stake for … heresy — Agnes Repplier
a palatal semiconsonant … liable to pass into another consonant — W.J.Entwistle & W.A.Morison
subject may imply a great likelihood of the development that is indicated; more than the others it may although it does not always indicate that the development has happened or must happen
another mystery … how, subject to the life he describes, he was able to become a poet — Osbert Sitwell
rivers and streams … subject to great floods — Bram Stoker
open does not stress the probability of the ensuing development that is indicated; it stresses the ease with which that development may occur and especially the lack of shield, guard, or defense against an unpleasant development
another modern tendency in education … perhaps somewhat more open to question — Bertrand Russell
standing thus alone … open to all the criticism which descends on the lone operator — Bruce Catton
open and exposed are often interchangeable but open makes no necessary implication about the presence or existence of the development, simply indicating lack of defense; in some but not all uses, exposed indicates actual presence of the influencing force without indication of lack of defense
exposed to streptococcus infection
susceptible changes the focus of attention and suggests not a temporary situation but an inherent or essential characteristic of the person or thing involved which makes the indicated influence or development likely
fell in love with her … was already in a highly susceptible state and tumbled immediately — H.S.Canby
a nature … perhaps even less susceptible than other men's characters of essential change — Walter Pater
prone suggests a more positive predisposition of the subject toward the influence or development, a predisposition which is not merely receptive to the influence or development but which invited it
you may well warn me against such an evil. Human nature is so prone to fall into it — Jane Austen
I think that girls are less prone than boys to punish oddity by serious physical cruelty — Bertrand Russell
sensitive does not suggest a predisposition toward so much as a very readily perceptive or impressionable nature likely to be influenced by stimuli that might be without effect in another situation
the founding of the university by the greatest capitalist in America made it sensitive to charges of capitalistic influence and inclined to lean backward to avoid them — R.M.Lovett
so sweet and sensitive that she feels influences more acutely than other people do — Bram Stoker
sensitive may imply that the matter being perceived and calling forth a reaction is unpleasant
raised her voice to a squeaking tone that was very painful to a sensitive ear — Ellen Glasgow
incident may be mentioned in this series only because it indicates the fact of concomitant or ensuing result and implies nothing more than the existence of this fact
economic factors incident to the depression — J.B.Conant
Synonym: see in addition responsible .