SYNONYMS | EXAMPLES | WORD ORIGIN
adjective tending to cause or excite suspicion ; questionable: suspicious behavior. inclined to suspect, especially inclined to suspect evil; distrustful: a suspicious tyrant.
expressing or indicating suspicion : a suspicious glance. Origin of suspicious 1300–50; Middle English <
Latin suspīciōsus, equivalent to
suspīci- (see
suspicion ) +
-ōsus -ous Related forms 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. 2019
Examples from the Web for suspiciousness Historical Examples of suspiciousness Its character for suspiciousness may be gathered from what different writers have said about it.
Bobby, however, was in a field where suspiciousness could scarcely be overdone.
I have ever held it to be a proof of the suspiciousness of our natures and unworthy.
There was a suspiciousness about his tone that was almost insulting.
His defect in his new office was an excess of zeal in suspiciousness .
British Dictionary definitions for suspiciousness adjective exciting or liable to excite suspicion; questionable
disposed to suspect something wrong
indicative or expressive of suspicion
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Derived Forms suspiciously , adverb suspiciousness , noun Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for suspiciousness adj. "deserving of or exciting suspicion," mid-14c., from Old French suspecious , from Latin suspiciosus "exciting suspicion" (see suspicion ). Meaning "full of or inclined to feel suspicion" is attested from c.1400. Edgar Allan Poe (c.1845) proposed suspectful to take one of the two conflicting senses. Related: suspiciously ; suspiciousness .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper