suspect
Americanverb (used with object)
-
suspects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
suspected,
past participle, past
-
suspecting
present participle
-
to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof.
to suspect a person of murder.
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to doubt or mistrust.
I suspect his motives.
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to believe to be the case or to be likely or probable; surmise.
I suspect his knowledge did not amount to much.
- Synonyms:
- suppose, conjecture, guess
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to have some hint or foreknowledge of.
I think she suspected the surprise.
verb (used without object)
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suspects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
suspected,
past participle, past
-
suspecting
present participle
noun
-
suspects
plural
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a person who is suspected, especially one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like.
-
an animal or thing that is suspected to be the cause of something bad: The cause of the disease was not confirmed, but the suspect was an insect.
Investigators focused on faulty wiring as a suspect in the house fire.
The cause of the disease was not confirmed, but the suspect was an insect.
adjective
idioms
verb
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(tr) to believe guilty of a specified offence without proof
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(tr) to think false, questionable, etc
she suspected his sincerity
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to surmise to be the case; think probable
to suspect fraud
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(intr) to have suspicion
noun
adjective
Usage
What does sus mean? Sus is a shortening of suspicious or suspect. In slang, it has the sense of "questionable" or "shady."
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsuspectnoun
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suspecternoun
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presuspectverb (used with object)
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suspectibleadjective
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suspectlessadjective
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unsuspectingadjective
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unsuspectinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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suspectsimple
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suspectssimple
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have suspectedperfect
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has suspectedperfect
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am suspectingprogressive
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are suspectingprogressive
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is suspectingprogressive
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have been suspectingperfect progressive
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has been suspectingperfect progressive
Past
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suspectedsimple
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had suspectedperfect
-
was suspectingprogressive
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were suspectingprogressive
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had been suspectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of suspect
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (adjective) from Latin suspectus, past participle of suspicere “to look up, look and see, regard with mistrust,” equivalent to su- “under, below, beneath” + -spicere, combining form of specere “to see, observe, keep an eye on, take into consideration”; (verb) partly from the adjective, partly from Middle French suspecter “to hold suspect,” or directly from Latin suspectāre, frequentative of suspicere; see su-
Explanation
A suspect is a person who is believed to be guilty of a crime. If you leave the scene of a murder with blood on your hands and a weapon in your pocket, you’re likely to become a prime suspect. If others believe you have committed a crime, you are a suspect. The word can also be used as a verb and an adjective. To suspect someone of something is to believe that they probably did it. Do you ever suspect your parents of taking some of your Halloween candy? If something such as someone's excuse or motive is suspect, it seems a bit off. That bad-smelling piece of fish is suspect — you'd better not eat it.
Vocabulary lists containing suspect
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Common Senses: Spec, Spect, Spic ("Look")
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Bridge to Terabithia
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I also suspect that, to whatever extent Bill Pay actually inspires more Bill Pay usage, they’re correct about that.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, wrote that his company’s large language model Claude had found “a molecular machine that we suspect could represent a new gene editing mechanism.”
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026
The suspect was arrested on 15 September, before the alleged FBI attack.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
“Then, the victim stood in the front of the vehicle and attempted to keep the suspect from driving away” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
“Good point. I’m not saying it’s not Adam. He’s definitely at the top of the suspect list. But we need some evidence or it’s just our word against his.”
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Internet sleuths also have started using AI to “unmask” suspects in high-profile cases, flooding tip lines with bad information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
In the following days, three suspects -- two of whom were confirmed to be Latvian -- were detained in Latvia, and this month were handed over to Estonia.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
Three suspects were arrested in Latvia and extradited to Estonia earlier this month.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Police believe there aren’t any more suspects and there is no threat to public safety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
I asked if Rosa, or anyone else in the family, had ever mentioned any potential suspects besides Hale.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Officials said the firm was suspected of “unlawful business operations,” echoing the charge against Mr. Wang.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
She told her dad that she suspected one of her teachers used AI to generate nearly everything and grade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
And "measles is particularly concerning, with more than 22,000 suspected cases and 128 deaths reported this year", Heinzelmann said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
Dutch police have arrested a suspected member of the ShinyHunters cyber-crime group that claimed to have stolen sensitive information on all FBI bureau staff - around 38,000 people.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
A few people, over the years, had suspected that the girl was rare in some way.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
He’d been stunned by his star’s nearly centurylong sentence and came away from a review of the case suspecting that Walters may have been wrongfully convicted.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Still, it’s worth noting that Sink’s role has been the subject of much speculation, with fans suspecting she would play Marvel-verse X-Men telekinetic and telepath Jean Grey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
People outside Wall Street will probably say they don’t know, while those who work in finance, suspecting a trap, may hedge their bets.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Movies rarely venture so far into the hearts of ordinary people trying to do their best but suspecting they have made a great many irreparable mistakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
To elude the exam panic around me, I avoided my schoolmates and stuck to Bright, little suspecting it was he of all people who would shatter my peace.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
