suss

American

[suhs] / sʌs /

verb (used with object)

Chiefly British Slang. to investigate or figure out (usually followed byout ).

suss British

/ sʌs /

verb

(often foll by out) to attempt to work out (a situation, person's character, etc), esp using one's intuition
Also: sus. to become aware of; suspect (esp in the phrase suss it )

"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

noun

sharpness of mind; social astuteness

"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

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

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Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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Etymology

Origin of suss

First recorded in 1965–70; earlier, to suspect, a suspect, shortening of suspect

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.

The reason for the lackluster performance isn’t hard to suss out.

From Barron's • May 4, 2026

She suggested getting an independent solar feasibility survey to help "suss out how much money you might be able to make from solar panels on your roof".

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

It’s impossible to suss out what portion of the electorate voted for him based on that promise over, say, the notably dire state of the economy in 1992.

From Salon • Apr. 18, 2026

Employment rose by 130,000 in January, but it’s a notoriously bad month to suss out the true state of the labor market.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026

The title would be easy to suss out for any Yiddish speaker with a half-decent grasp of the Latin alphabet.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023