suspect

American  

[suh-spekt, suhs-pekt, suhs-pekt, suh-spekt] / səˈspɛkt, ˈsʌs pɛkt, ˈsʌs pɛkt, səˈspɛkt /

verb (used with object)

• suspects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• suspected,
  past participle,  past
• suspecting
  present participle

1. to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof.

   to suspect a person of murder.

2. to doubt or mistrust.

   I suspect his motives.

3. to believe to be the case or to be likely or probable; surmise.

   I suspect his knowledge did not amount to much.

   Synonyms:

   suppose, conjecture, guess

4. to have some hint or foreknowledge of.

   I think she suspected the surprise.

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verb (used without object)

• suspects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• suspected,
  past participle,  past
• suspecting
  present participle

1. to believe something, especially something evil or wrong, to be the case; have suspicion.

noun

• suspects
  plural

1. a person who is suspected, especially one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like.

2. an animal or thing that is suspected to be the cause of something bad: The cause of the disease was not confirmed, but the suspect was an insect.

   Investigators focused on faulty wiring as a suspect in the house fire.

   The cause of the disease was not confirmed, but the suspect was an insect.

adjective

1. suspected; open to or under suspicion.

idioms

1. the usual suspects, the people, animals, or things that are commonly associated with a particular activity, situation, etc. (often used facetiously).

   We visited a family farm with sheep and bunnies and roosters and goats—the usual suspects!

suspect British  

verb

1. (tr) to believe guilty of a specified offence without proof

2. (tr) to think false, questionable, etc

   she suspected his sincerity

3. (tr; may take a clause as object) to surmise to be the case; think probable

   to suspect fraud

4. (intr) to have suspicion

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noun

1. a person who is under suspicion

adjective

1. causing or open to suspicion

Usage

What does sus mean? Sus is a shortening of suspicious or suspect. In slang, it has the sense of "questionable" or "shady."

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsuspect
  noun
• suspecter
  noun
• presuspect
  verb (used with object)
• suspectible
  adjective
• suspectless
  adjective
• unsuspecting
  adjective
• unsuspectingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suspects
  plural

Participles

• suspecting
  present
• suspected
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• suspect
  simple
• suspects
  simple
• have suspected
  perfect
• has suspected
  perfect
• am suspecting
  progressive
• are suspecting
  progressive
• is suspecting
  progressive
• have been suspecting
  perfect progressive
• has been suspecting
  perfect progressive

Past

• suspected
  simple
• had suspected
  perfect
• was suspecting
  progressive
• were suspecting
  progressive
• had been suspecting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will suspect
  simple
• will have suspected
  perfect
• will be suspecting
  progressive
• will have been suspecting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of suspect

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (adjective) from Latin suspectus, past participle of suspicere “to look up, look and see, regard with mistrust,” equivalent to su- “under, below, beneath” + -spicere, combining form of specere “to see, observe, keep an eye on, take into consideration”; (verb) partly from the adjective, partly from Middle French suspecter “to hold suspect,” or directly from Latin suspectāre, frequentative of suspicere; see su-

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Explanation

A suspect is a person who is believed to be guilty of a crime. If you leave the scene of a murder with blood on your hands and a weapon in your pocket, you’re likely to become a prime suspect. If others believe you have committed a crime, you are a suspect. The word can also be used as a verb and an adjective. To suspect someone of something is to believe that they probably did it. Do you ever suspect your parents of taking some of your Halloween candy? If something such as someone's excuse or motive is suspect, it seems a bit off. That bad-smelling piece of fish is suspect — you'd better not eat it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suspect suspects suspected suspecting

Updates were shared with police in a group chat, helping Austrian officers locate and arrest the suspect.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

On Friday, Ch Supt Marcus Noden said officers "suspect vulnerable people are being exploited and paid to damage buildings they believe are HMOs".

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

I suspect most Americans would agree that anyone else who enabled Epstein or engaged in crimes with him should be named, shamed, and potentially prosecuted—no matter what side of the political aisle they sit on.

From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026

I suspect a lengthy, traumatic and expensive legal battle is exactly what he wants.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

I suspect DeShon is “lights out,” though I bet his music is on.

From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Police investigating ongoing home burglaries in the still-rebuilding Palisades have been able to identify suspects, she said, in part because license plate readers frequently capture the getaway vehicles used by burglars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

"Despite the passage of time and the fact the suspects were no longer in the UK, we were determined that those responsible should face justice," Jessah added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

In Britain, the charismatic Todd embraces his special envoy status with verve even as he suspects he’s out of his depth.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

About 95% were men and 70% were adults, with some suspects as young as 13.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

Jus follows her past a bunch of white-walled rooms—classrooms, they look like—until they reach a large steel door with a tall rectangular window that Jus suspects is bulletproof.

From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

A wallet belonging to a suspected attacker appeared to show more than $2.5 million in funds drawn from Polymarket user accounts, according to a Wall Street Journal review of wallet activity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

“It is crucial to learn how many may have CTE to ensure the medical community is prepared to support families fighting suspected CTE.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

The incident evoked memories of one of the biggest jailbreaks in Tamil Nadu in 1995 when 43 suspected militants escaped from a special camp after digging a 153-foot-long tunnel beneath a historic fort.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Its latest moves include a criminal probe into OpenAI launched in April after reviewing communications between the suspected gunman in a 2025 fatal shooting at Florida State University and ChatGPT, the company’s chatbot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Right up until the middle of 2007, Eisman had not suspected that the firms were so foolish as to invest in their own creations.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

She’s engaging in a piece of phantasmagoric performance art with two raging megalomaniacs, suspecting humanity buried beneath their easygoing subterfuge.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

He’d been stunned by his star’s nearly centurylong sentence and came away from a review of the case suspecting that Walters may have been wrongfully convicted.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

There are still signs of wealth, she said, suspecting there are people making money off the scarcity caused by the sanctions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Still, it’s worth noting that Sink’s role has been the subject of much speculation, with fans suspecting she would play Marvel-verse X-Men telekinetic and telepath Jean Grey.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

And he was always suspecting that somebody was laughing.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

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Related Words

• assume
• believe
• consider
• doubt
• presume
• speculate
• think
• wonder

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