suspect

[ verb suh-spekt; noun suhs-pekt; adjective suhs-pekt, suh-spekt ]

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

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

noun

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.

suspect

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

noun

1. a person who is under suspicion

adjective

1. causing or open to suspicion

Derived Forms

• susˈpecter, noun
• ˈsuspectless, adjective

Other Words From

• 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of suspect¹

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; su-

Word History and Origins

Origin of suspect¹

C14: from Latin suspicere to mistrust, from sub- + specere to look

Idioms and Phrases

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!

Related Words

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