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

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

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

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have suspected
  perfect
• has suspected
  perfect 3rd person singular
• has been suspecting
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• suspecting
  participle
• is suspecting
  progressive 3rd person singular
• have been suspecting
  perfect progressive
• are suspecting
  progressive
• suspects
  singular 3rd person
• am suspecting
  progressive 1st person singular

Past

• had suspected
  perfect
• suspected
  simple
• were suspecting
  progressive plural
• was suspecting
  progressive singular
• suspected
  participle
• 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

The suspect got into a nearby car with two other suspects.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026

I suspect she didn’t split his estate 50/50 like she was supposed to.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026

Not necessarily, I suspect, due to the near-extinction of the alarm clock.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

He also warned South Africans not to take the law into their own hands by targeting those they suspect of being in the country illegally.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 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