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suspect
[suh-spekt, suhs-pekt, suhs-pekt, suh-spekt]
verb (used with object)
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.
verb (used without object)
to believe something, especially something evil or wrong, to be the case; have suspicion.
noun
a person who is suspected, especially one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like.
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
suspected; open to or under suspicion.
suspect
verb
(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
noun
a person who is under suspicion
adjective
causing or open to suspicion
Other Word Forms
- suspectible adjective
- nonsuspect noun
- presuspect verb (used with object)
- unsuspecting adjective
- unsuspectingly adverb
- suspecter noun
- suspectless adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of suspect1
Word History and Origins
Origin of suspect1
Idioms and Phrases
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!
Example Sentences
Both São Paulo state and national health officials say they are investigating other suspected methanol poisoning deaths.
The suspect in Judge Kalaja's killing had opened fire because he expected to lose the case, according to local media reports.
The bear suspected to have attacked the man has been caught and killed.
A sixth suspect, Matthew White - who was first publicly named by the BBC two years ago - died in 2021 aged 50.
Police say they have dismantled an international gang suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to China in the last year.
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When To Use
Sus is a shortening of suspicious or suspect. In slang, it has the sense of "questionable" or "shady."
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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