suspect [verb suh -spekt ; noun suhs -pekt; adjective suhs -pekt, suh -spekt ]
Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for suspect on Thesaurus.com to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof: to suspect a person of murder. to doubt or mistrust: I suspect his motives. to believe to be the case or to be likely or probable; surmise: I suspect his knowledge did not amount to much. to have some hint or foreknowledge of: I think she suspected the surprise. Show More
verb (used without object) to believe something, especially something evil or wrong, to be the case; have suspicion . Show More
a person who is suspected, especially one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like. Show More
Origin of suspect 1250–1300; Middle English (adj.) <
Latin suspectāre, equivalent to
su- su- +
spectāre, frequentative of
specere to look at
Related forms sus·pect·i·ble , adjective non·sus·pect , noun, adjective pre·sus·pect , verb (used with object) un·sus·pect·ing , adjective un·sus·pect·ing·ly , adverb Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for unsuspecting innocent ,
credulous ,
easy ,
inexperienced ,
ingenuous ,
naive ,
simple ,
trusting ,
unconscious ,
unwary ,
undoubting ,
confiding ,
trustful Examples from the Web for unsuspecting Contemporary Examples of unsuspecting Some are eventually re-gifted to unsuspecting relatives or friends.
He was one of the first great modern day ad-libbers, unleashing all-out joke assaults on unsuspecting audiences.
Like any massively successful property, the Turtles eventually began influencing its audience in unsuspecting ways.
In Afghanistan, Gibbs started to teach his soldiers how to “drop weapon” on unsuspecting civilians.
Yes, and a terrible lie—designed to gull money from a generous, unsuspecting public.
Historical Examples of unsuspecting After dinner the Little Doctor spoke to the unsuspecting critics.
She had been generous, and unsuspecting , and for this she was betrayed and abandoned.
Like my father, I was open, guileless, unsuspecting —and it destroyed me.
Recklessly, then, that unsuspecting fellow stepped into the trap.
For this you cultivated the good graces of an unsuspecting old man.
British Dictionary definitions for unsuspecting disposed to trust; not suspicious; trusting Show More
Derived Forms unsuspectingly , adverb (tr) to believe guilty of a specified offence without proof (tr) to think false, questionable, etc she suspected his sincerity (tr; may take a clause as object) to surmise to be the case; think probable to suspect fraud (intr) to have suspicion Show More
a person who is under suspicion Show More
causing or open to suspicion Show More
Derived Forms suspecter , noun suspectless , adjective Word Origin for suspect C14: from Latin suspicere to mistrust, from sub- + specere to look
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 unsuspecting adj. 1590s, from un- (1) "not" + present participle of suspect (v.).
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adj. mid-14c., from Old French suspect "suspicious," from Latin suspectus "suspected, suspicious," past participle of suspicere "look up at, mistrust, suspect," from sub "up to" + specere "to look at" (see scope (n.1)). The notion is of "look at secretly," hence, "look at distrustfully." The verb is attested from late 15c.; the noun meaning "a suspected person" is first recorded 1590s. Related: Suspected ; suspecting .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
