I. səˈseptəbəl adjective
Etymology: Late Latin susceptibilis, from Latin susceptus (past participle of suscipere to take up, undertake, admit, from sus- — variant of sub- up — + -cipere, from capere to take) + -ibilis -ible — more at sub- , heave
1. : of such a nature, character, or constitution as to admit or permit : capable of submitting successfully to an action, process, or operation — used with of or to followed by an action noun or a verbal noun
a theory susceptible of proof
this problem is … susceptible to solution — M.V.Vishniak
impulses … susceptible of control — Abram Kardiner
several … contributors have initials susceptible of being mistaken for mine — Elinor Wylie
2.
a. : having such a constitution or temperament as to be open, subject, or unresistant to some stimulus, influence, or agency : easily influenced or affected through some trait (as weakness, pliability, sensitiveness, naïveté, or amorousness) — usually used with to
the snow was damp and susceptible to clear impression — W.H.Wright
a city susceptible to air attack
he became susceptible to the influences of the sea — Times Literary Supplement
he is still susceptible , but not excessively so, to the attractions of other women — Anthony Quinton
the foibles of the health faddists are particularly susceptible to satire — Arthur Knight
even the most autocratic of industries is in some degree susceptible to public opinion — S.H.Adams
b.
(1) : having little resistance to a specific infectious disease : capable of being infected
(2) : predisposed to develop a noninfectious disease
susceptible to diabetes
(3) : abnormally reactive to various drugs
c. : capable of affecting as much as being affected, of conceiving, feeling, arousing, or bringing forth
the subject is hardly susceptible of high poetry — Richard Garnett †1906
3. : easily influenced, affected, or moved : impressionable , responsive
at 32,500 feet susceptible individuals may develop symptoms after a few minutes — H.G.Armstrong
with all the fervency of her palpitant and susceptible twelve years, she was infatuated with a man thirty years her senior — S.H.Adams
landslides can be prevented by proper ditch drainage of susceptible areas — American Guide Series: Tennessee
far from a rake, though of a warm and susceptible temperament — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall
Synonyms: see liable
II. noun
( -s )
: one who is susceptible (as to a disease)
the usual classification of persons into susceptibles and immunes is a purely artificial and inexact one — G.W.Anderson & Margaret Arnstein