Susceptible To: Standard Pattern
Susceptible To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented Cambridge construction while keeping distinct formal alternatives outside this page’s scope.
Cambridge documents “susceptible to” for being easily influenced or harmed and, in formal use, open to an interpretation.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning | Pattern | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| easily affected, influenced, or harmed by something | susceptible to + noun / -ing as licensed | Use the documented adjective construction. |
| formal: capable of receiving a particular interpretation or treatment | susceptible to + noun | Use the same preposition with the formal sense when appropriate. |
| you mean merely possible rather than vulnerable/open | choose a word that matches that meaning | Do not use “susceptible” as a loose synonym for every kind of possibility. |
Quick tests
Meaning test
Does the subject have a tendency to be affected by, influenced by, harmed by, or formally open to the following thing?
If yes: Use “susceptible to.”
If no: If you mean only that something is possible, choose wording that states possibility directly.
Caveat: The reviewed dictionary supports both the affected/influenced sense and a formal interpretation sense; this page keeps those meanings distinct.
Examples
Young plants are susceptible to frost damage.
“To” introduces the harmful influence to which the plants are vulnerable.
The material is susceptible to staining if left unsealed.
The construction identifies the effect the material is prone to.
The phrase is susceptible to more than one interpretation.
The formal sense means open or capable of being interpreted in that way.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents susceptible to for being easily influenced, harmed, or open to a particular interpretation.
Style Boundary
This page records the supported susceptible-to construction and keeps alternative formal patterns outside this page unless separately evidenced.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- susceptible — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for the adjective construction susceptible to something.