Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Easily influenced by suggestion: A person who is "suggestible" is easily swayed or affected by the ideas, opinions, or proposals of others, often without critical resistance.
   • Open to hypnotic influence: In psychology, it describes someone who is highly responsive to hypnotic suggestions or commands.

Usage

• The word "suggestible" is used to describe a person's character or state of mind. It often carries a neutral or slightly negative connotation, implying a lack of critical judgment or a tendency to be easily led.
• It is typically used before a noun (e.g., a suggestible person) or after a linking verb (e.g., The witness was highly suggestible).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • Children are often more suggestible than adults and may believe stories easily.
  • The hypnotist looked for a suggestible volunteer from the audience.
  • Her suggestible nature made her an easy target for misleading advertising.

Advanced Usage

• "to be in a suggestible state": to be in a mental condition (e.g., tired, relaxed, or under hypnosis) where one is particularly open to influence.
  • Patients under mild sedation are in a more suggestible state, which can aid therapy.
• Used in formal or academic contexts discussing psychology, marketing, or social influence.

Variants and Related Words

• Suggestibility (n): The quality or state of being suggestible.
  • The study measured the suggestibility of the participants.
• Suggest (v): To put forward for consideration. (This is the root verb from which "suggestible" is derived.)

Synonyms

• Impressionable: Easily influenced because of a lack of critical experience.
• Susceptible: Likely to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing.
• Pliable: Easily bent or influenced.
• Gullible: Easily persuaded to believe something; credulous.

Antonyms

• Strong-willed: Determined to do what one wants.
• Skeptical: Not easily convinced; having doubts.
• Independent: Free from outside control; not influenced by others.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Eyewitness suggestibility: A legal and psychological concept where a witness's memory can be altered by misleading questions or information.
  • The lawyer argued that the testimony was unreliable due to the witness's suggestibility.
• Hypnotic suggestibility: An individual's responsiveness to suggestions given under hypnosis.

Adjective

1. susceptible or responsive to suggestion
   • suggestible young minds