suss

[ suhs ]

/ sʌs /

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verb (used with object)

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

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of suss

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

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

How to use suss in a sentence

When companies develop a drug or a vaccine, what they’re really looking to do is suss out a pathogen or biological target’s weak spots.
How a molecule gets to the masses|Sy Mukherjee|December 17, 2020|Fortune
One of Maathuis’s main points was that in order to suss out causation it is important to make causal assumptions and then test them.
A.I. needs to get real—and other takeaways from this year’s NeurIPS|Jeremy Kahn|December 15, 2020|Fortune
People often use them to suss out the horse race while waiting for results to get insight into who’s winning, but exit polls aren’t intended to be used this way.
Exit Polls Can Be Misleading — Especially This Year|Laura Bronner (laura.bronner@abc.com)|November 2, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
I think the stats we use are bad, or it’s just too hard to suss out the best CBs.
Are Bad NFL Defenses Breaking Win Probability Models?|Sara Ziegler (sara.ziegler@fivethirtyeight.com)|October 26, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

You need to suss out SERP competitors, or those who compete with you purely through search rankings, as well and analyze how they are winning in search.
Search competition: Who are you really competing with?|Andrew Dennis|July 29, 2020|Search Engine Land
But as Iran gets craftier, sussing out its nuclear program is no sure thing.
Iran’s Nuclear Black Box|Eli Lake|October 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Oddly enough, he has trouble sussing out the answer to a question based on his own time hosting the show.
Regis Philbin's 11 Funniest Moments|Shannon Donnelly|January 18, 2011|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for suss

suss

/ (sʌs) /

verb (tr) slang

(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)

noun

sharpness of mind; social astuteness

Word Origin for suss

C20: shortened from suspect

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