suspect

American  

[suh-spekt, suhs-pekt, suhs-pekt, suh-spekt] / səˈspɛkt, ˈsʌs pɛkt, ˈsʌs pɛkt, səˈspɛkt /

verb (used with object)

1. to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof.

   to suspect a person of murder.

2. to doubt or mistrust.

   I suspect his motives.

3. 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

4. to have some hint or foreknowledge of.

   I think she suspected the surprise.

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verb (used without object)

1. to believe something, especially something evil or wrong, to be the case; have suspicion.

noun

1. a person who is suspected, especially one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like.

2. 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

1. suspected; open to or under suspicion.

idioms

1. the usual suspects, the people, animals, or things that are commonly associated with a particular activity, situation, etc. (often used facetiously).

   We visited a family farm with sheep and bunnies and roosters and goats—the usual suspects!

suspect British  

verb

1. (tr) to believe guilty of a specified offence without proof

2. (tr) to think false, questionable, etc

   she suspected his sincerity

3. (tr; may take a clause as object) to surmise to be the case; think probable

   to suspect fraud

4. (intr) to have suspicion

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noun

1. a person who is under suspicion

adjective

1. causing or open to suspicion

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

• nonsuspect noun
• presuspect verb (used with object)
• suspecter noun
• suspectible adjective
• suspectless adjective
• unsuspecting adjective
• unsuspectingly adverb

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; su-

Example Sentences

Cheap digital picture frames from unrecognizable brands are also suspect.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

I suspect this would cause many families to reconsider the easy money being promised to them by lawyers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

The suspect approached the woman unprovoked while she was inside the store shopping.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

Figures recorded for all femicides in Scotland, where there was a relationship between the victim and the suspect, show the highest number of female homicides was 16 in the year 2021/22.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

I went through the rest of the class, texting Lorren the suspect list as I thought of them.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Related Words

• assume
• believe
• consider
• doubt
• presume
• speculate
• think
• wonder