susceptibility
noun
sus·cep·ti·bil·i·ty
| \ sə-ˌsep-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē
\
\
plural susceptibilities
Definition of susceptibility
1
: the quality or state of being susceptible
especially
: lack of ability to resist some extraneous agent (such as a pathogen or drug) : sensitivity
2a
: a susceptible temperament or constitution
3a
: the ratio of the magnetization in a substance to the corresponding magnetizing force
b
: the ratio of the electric polarization to the electric intensity in a polarized dielectric
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Synonyms & Antonyms for susceptibility
Synonyms
defenselessness, vulnerability, weakness
Antonyms
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Examples of susceptibility in a Sentence
A weak immune system causes increased susceptibility to disease.
his aunt's unfortunate susceptibility to viruses meant she was nearly always sick
Recent Examples on the Web
The findings underscore machine learning's susceptibility to bias and its unintended consequences on groups that are underrepresented in the data used to train machine-learning systems. — Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, "Google’s Hate Speech Detection A.I. Has a Racial Bias Problem," 16 Aug. 2019 This White House has seen an unprecedented turnover of staff, and an early susceptibility to factionalism. — Dominic Green, WSJ, "Trump, Brexit and the Former Ambassador," 10 July 2019 That sensitivity depends in large part on the extra spontaneous activity in the brain, which adds noise to the system and dampens susceptibility. — Jennifer Ouellette, Quanta Magazine, "Brains May Teeter Near Their Tipping Point," 14 June 2018 But Thursday night’s start looked much like many of those in the first two months of the season, when Harvey was plagued by inconsistent command, an inability to put hitters away and a susceptibility to big innings. — Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, "Astros catch up early to take down pitcher Matt Harvey and the Angels," 18 July 2019 This increases their susceptibility to chronic diseases like asthma, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. — Bianca Sanchez, chicagotribune.com, "CPS to offer children free lunch at nearly 100 locations, almost all summer vacation," 25 June 2019 Vinca was once the best-selling annual flower but its popularity declined because its severe susceptibility to the disease aerial phytophera. — Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, "More great plants for color in your San Antonio summer garden," 14 June 2019 Study ranked each community in Washington and Oregon on its susceptibility to wildfire risk. — oregonlive.com, "Firefighters brace for tough Pacific Northwest wildfire season," 10 June 2019 And that risk, combined with a ferret’s susceptibility to plague, canine distemper and other diseases, make survival tenuous, even in the most ideal wild conditions. — Andrew Nicla, AZCentral.com, "Late hours, no pay, diminishing returns: Scouring the Arizona desert for black-footed ferrets," 10 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'susceptibility.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for susceptibility
susceptibility
noun
English Language Learners Definition of susceptibility
: the state of being easily affected, influenced, or harmed by something
chiefly British, formal
: a person's feelings
See the full definition for susceptibility in the English Language Learners Dictionary
susceptibility
noun
sus·cep·ti·bil·i·ty
| \ sə-ˌsep-tə-ˈbil-ət-ē
\
\
plural susceptibilities
Medical Definition of susceptibility
1
: the quality or state of being susceptible : the state of being predisposed to, sensitive to, or of lacking the ability to resist something (as a pathogen, familial disease, or a drug) : sensitivity
2a
: the ratio of the magnetization in a substance to the corresponding magnetizing force — see paramagnetic
b
: the ratio of the electric polarization to the electric intensity in a polarized dielectric
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