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.
-
to doubt or mistrust.
I suspect his motives.
-
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)
-
suspects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
suspected,
past participle, past
-
suspecting
present participle
noun
-
suspects
plural
-
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
-
(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
-
is suspectingprogressive
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have been suspectingperfect progressive
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has been suspectingperfect progressive
Past
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suspectedsimple
-
had suspectedperfect
-
was suspectingprogressive
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were suspectingprogressive
-
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:
We've had four weeks of suspense, suspicion and very suspect tactics, as some of Britain's biggest stars engaged in a battle of wits to win the most popular show on TV.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Singapore and Taiwan suspect data-center executive Alice Huang is a Chinese intelligence source.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Asked by reporters this week about Pike's fate, Lee said: "I suspect her sentence will be the same as it was before unless determined otherwise by the courts."
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
I suspect the live-in caregiver is benefiting from my parent’s generosity.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
“I’ve warned you about hiding information from me, Novis. You’ve done it before, and I suspect you’re doing so again.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The Bed Bug Foundation gives the following advice to anyone who suspects they may have bad bugs:
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Lee told reporters this week that he suspects Pike’s sentence “will be the same as it was before, unless determined otherwise by the courts.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
A week ago police said they had re-arrested two of the suspects, one of whom has now been charged.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
A million dollars’ worth of running shoes, and yet these suspects couldn’t outrun the law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
He suspects she was acting on behalf of the CCD.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
The findings were submitted in litigation brought by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which is challenging the administration’s efforts to use federal immigration data to identify suspected noncitizen voters.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
Researchers suspected that another molecule was helping the toxin reach its target, but repeated attempts to identify it had failed.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
The suspected head of one compound installed at the Live Hotel in the city was a Chinese national who was among those extradited to Beijing.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026
In recent days, the Federal Election Commission, which makes public political campaign donation data, was taken offline because of a suspected hacking attempt.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
We suspected one of the girls we had played with that day.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
She’s engaging in a piece of phantasmagoric performance art with two raging megalomaniacs, suspecting humanity buried beneath their easygoing subterfuge.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
She started researching anger after suspecting her female clients' suppression of it was the root cause of some of their physical conditions.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
There are still signs of wealth, she said, suspecting there are people making money off the scarcity caused by the sanctions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 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
Jillson glanced at Reynie and Kate, and at Constance in the back, obviously suspecting one of them as a cheating partner.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
