Susceptible to strong emotion in past maybe (7)

I believe the answer is:

intense

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'susceptible to strong emotion' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'in past maybe' is the wordplay.
'past maybe' becomes 'tense' (past tense).
'in'+'tense'='INTENSE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for intense that I've seen before include "Acute, concentrated" , "Feverish" , "Great" , "Very concentrated or passionate" , "Deeply felt or vehement" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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