Langimage
English

suggestibly

|sug-gest-i-bly|

C2

🇺🇸

/səˈdʒɛstəbl/

🇬🇧

/səˈdʒɛstɪbəl/

(suggestible)

easily influenced

Base FormPluralPresentNounAdverb
suggestiblesuggestibilitiessuggestsuggestibilitysuggestibly
Etymology
Etymology Information

'suggestibly' ultimately derives from the verb 'suggest', which comes from Latin 'suggerere' (also seen as 'suggest-') where the prefix 'sub-' meant 'under' and 'gerere' meant 'to carry or bear'. The adjective 'suggestible' was formed from 'suggest' + the adjective-forming suffix '-ible', and the adverb 'suggestibly' from 'suggestible' + '-ly'.

Historical Evolution

'suggest' entered English via Old French and Late Latin (Latin 'suggerere' → Old French 'sugerer'/'suggérer') and Middle English 'suggesten'; from this came the adjective 'suggestible' in Modern English, which later produced the adverb 'suggestibly'.

Meaning Changes

Originally Latin 'suggerere' meant 'to bring under, to present, to put forward' (a physical or figurative carrying under/presenting). Over time the English 'suggest' came to mean 'to propose or put forward an idea', and derivatives like 'suggestible' evolved to mean 'capable of being influenced by such proposals'; the adverb 'suggestibly' carries that same sense of susceptibility.

Meanings by Part of Speech

Noun 1

the quality of being easily influenced by suggestions (definition for the related noun 'suggestibility').

High suggestibility can affect eyewitness testimony.

Synonyms

impressionabilitysusceptibility

Antonyms

Adjective 1

capable of being influenced by suggestion; liable to accept proposed ideas or prompts (definition for the related adjective 'suggestible').

Children are often more suggestible than adults in stressful situations.

Synonyms

Antonyms

skepticalself-reliantunimpressionable

Adverb 1

in a manner that is easily influenced by suggestions, persuasion, or external cues; in a way that shows susceptibility to suggestion.

Under hypnosis she answered suggestibly, accepting ideas the interviewer proposed.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Last updated: 2025/10/31 22:08