definitions
  • synonyms

suspicious

[ suh-spish-uhs ]
/ səˈspɪʃ əs /
||

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.

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Nearby words

suspensory ligament of lens, suspensory ligament of ovary, suspensory muscle of duodenum, suspicion, suspicional, suspicious, suspiciously, suspiration, suspire, susquehanna, suss

Origin of suspicious

1300–50; Middle English < Latin suspīciōsus, equivalent to suspīci- (see suspicion) + -ōsus -ous
SYNONYMS FOR suspicious
1 suspect, dubious, doubtful.
2 mistrustful, wary, disbelieving.
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for suspiciousness

British Dictionary definitions for suspiciousness

suspicious

/ (səˈspɪʃəs) /

adjective

exciting or liable to excite suspicion; questionable
disposed to suspect something wrong
indicative or expressive of suspicion
Derived Formssuspiciously, adverbsuspiciousness, 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

Word Origin and History for suspiciousness

suspicious

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper