suspicious

[ suh-spish-uhs ]

See synonyms for: suspicious suspiciously on Thesaurus.com

adjective

tending to cause or excite suspicion; questionable: suspicious behavior.
inclined to suspect, especially inclined to suspect evil; distrustful: a suspicious tyrant.

full of or feeling suspicion.
expressing or indicating suspicion: a suspicious glance.

Origin of suspicious

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin suspīciōsus, from suspīci(ō) “mistrust” (see suspicion) + -ōsus -ous

Other words for suspicious

1	suspect, dubious, doubtful
2	mistrustful, wary, disbelieving

See synonyms for suspicious on Thesaurus.com

Other words from suspicious

sus·pi·cious·ly, adverb
sus·pi·cious·ness, noun
hy·per·sus·pi·cious, adjective
hy·per·sus·pi·cious·ly, adverb
hy·per·sus·pi·cious·ness, noun
o·ver·sus·pi·cious, adjective
o·ver·sus·pi·cious·ly, adverb
o·ver·sus·pi·cious·ness, noun
pre·sus·pi·cious, adjective
pre·sus·pi·cious·ly, adverb
pre·sus·pi·cious·ness, noun
self-sus·pi·cious, adjective
su·per·sus·pi·cious, adjective
su·per·sus·pi·cious·ly, adverb
su·per·sus·pi·cious·ness, noun
un·sus·pi·cious, adjective
un·sus·pi·cious·ly, adverb
un·sus·pi·cious·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use suspicious in a sentence

While states have reported isolated incidents of suspicious voting, the number of affected votes numbers in the dozens across the country.
Just because an attempt to steal an election is ludicrous and ham-handed doesn’t mean it can’t work | Philip Bump | November 19, 2020 | Washington Post
Spears’s fans have been suspicious of her conservatorship for as long as it has existed.
Why Britney Spears’s fans are convinced she’s being held captive | Constance Grady | November 11, 2020 | Vox
Democrats were far more likely than Republicans to vote early, and that made for a whiplashing election night that left voters confused and, in some cases, suspicious.
Virginia elections officials say social media posts led to unfounded fears, confusion about ballot counting | Laura Vozzella, Antonio Olivo, Gregory S. Schneider | November 5, 2020 | Washington Post
City Heights resident Francisco Gonzalez, 51, was suspicious of the Measure E campaign’s motives.
Housing and Homelessness on the Brain: Voices of the Voters in Central San Diego | Lisa Halverstadt | November 3, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
If you feel up to it, respectfully providing context or skepticism in response to one of your friends’ suspicious posts can help to slow the spread of a false narrative.
Seven types of election misinformation to watch out for | Abby Ohlheiser | November 2, 2020 | MIT Technology Review

The loyalty she had assumed was mutual was looking to be suspiciously unreciprocated.
Joan Rivers's Trailblazing, Troubled, and Complicated Role in Late-Night TV | Kevin Fallon | September 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Or hundreds of suspiciously young and fit drivers turn out to be members of the Russian special forces?
Putin’s “Humanitarian” Convoy Nears Ukraine, APCs Cross in Secret | Anna Nemtsova | August 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He raised the device in front of his face, eyeing it suspiciously from behind his Eugene Levy eyebrows.
Inside Uber’s Political War Machine | Olivia Nuzzi | June 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
That would have been a highly precipitous withdrawal and would have looked suspiciously like defeat.
GOP Iraq Hypocrisy Hits Overdrive | Michael Tomasky | June 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
On the outside, Fernando Galeano and Gerardo Moncada, two bosses of the Medellín Cartel, were growing suspiciously wealthy.
Pablo Escobar’s Private Prison Is Now Run by Monks for Senior Citizens | Jeff Campagna | June 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Robinson looked at him suspiciously as he took it, and the animals eyed him with evident distrust.
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. Carryl
And by lunch-time the cloud had passed away as suddenly, and as suspiciously, as it had come.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon Blackwood
He said it because his sentence sounded otherwise suspiciously incomplete.
The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
The general glanced suspiciously at the door to reassure himself that it was closed.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux
His eyes rest on me curiously, suspiciously, while the trusty hands me a small loaf of bread.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman

British Dictionary definitions for suspicious

suspicious

/ (səˈspɪʃəs) /

adjective

exciting or liable to excite suspicion; questionable
disposed to suspect something wrong

indicative or expressive of suspicion

Derived forms of suspicious

suspiciously, adverb
suspiciousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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