suspect

American  

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

verb (used with object)

• suspects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• suspected,
  past participle,  past
• suspecting
  present participle

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)

• suspects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• suspected,
  past participle,  past
• suspecting
  present participle

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

noun

• suspects
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suspects
  plural

Participles

• suspecting
  present
• suspected
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• suspect
  simple
• suspects
  simple
• have suspected
  perfect
• has suspected
  perfect
• am suspecting
  progressive
• are suspecting
  progressive
• is suspecting
  progressive
• have been suspecting
  perfect progressive
• has been suspecting
  perfect progressive

Past

• suspected
  simple
• had suspected
  perfect
• was suspecting
  progressive
• were suspecting
  progressive
• had been suspecting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will suspect
  simple
• will have suspected
  perfect
• will be suspecting
  progressive
• will have been suspecting
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suspect suspects suspected suspecting

Cruz and other researchers suspect that additional species once existed but left remains too delicate to survive long enough to be discovered.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

The agendas also contained a distorted periodic table, unreadable phases of the moon and other garbled educational material that parents suspect may have been created using artificial intelligence.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

Experts suspect KD1 is female but aren’t certain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

These companies should be required to verify their customers’ identities and intentions and to deny access where there is reason to suspect dangerous misuse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

“I suspect it all amounts to greed,” she whispered.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Staffed by a combination of HSI experts and outside consultants, it developed software tools to comb the data for information that could help agents pursue criminal suspects.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

Earlier, the interior ministry said security agencies had arrested several suspects accused of plotting to interfere with the electoral system.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Sam Stovall, chief of investment strategy at CFRA, suspects the uptick is due to the repeated success in recent months of “buy the dip” strategies.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

Artem Abramov, deputy head of analysis at Rystad Energy, suspects that the Alpines underestimate how AI could accelerate the improvement of low-carbon technologies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover assigned seventy-two FBI agents to investigate the suspects Elizabeth had identified.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

"Even though we suspected what it was, it was still extraordinary," added Perley.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Nitrite and nitrate testing is not routinely required in every suspected suicide, making it difficult to determine exactly how many deaths are associated with the chemical.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

There was also a national measles epidemic between 1989 and 1991, which, according to a study published by the CDC, led to 166 suspected measles deaths and more than 11,000 hospitalizations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

Most recently, the Italian navy, in conjunction with other EU countries, boarded a tanker in the central Mediterranean suspected of not being entitled to fly the flag it claimed.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Austria-Hungary, determined to hold its rickety empire together, suspected Russia of deliberately encouraging unrest.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

“They must be suspecting me of defending Articles 29 and 23 of the Russian Constitution—which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to private correspondence,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

When you start suspecting that your position might be terminated, it’s easy to mentally check out.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026

This policy, she explains, “tramples the constitutional requirement that officers must have a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity.”

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2025

The judges highlighted longstanding marital discord, with the couple living apart and Mamta suspecting her husband of infidelity.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025

I can't help suspecting it's because he's from a "good family" with money and education, but when he comes over, I can tell she genuinely enjoys his company.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

Related Words

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