suspicious

[ suh-spish-uhs ]

adjective

1. tending to cause or excite suspicion; questionable:

   suspicious behavior.

   Synonyms: doubtful, dubious, suspect

2. inclined to suspect, especially inclined to suspect evil; distrustful:

   a suspicious tyrant.

   Synonyms: wary, mistrustful

3. full of or feeling suspicion.
4. expressing or indicating suspicion:

   a suspicious glance.

suspicious

/ səˈspɪʃəs /

adjective

1. exciting or liable to excite suspicion; questionable
2. disposed to suspect something wrong
3. indicative or expressive of suspicion

Derived Forms

• susˈpiciousness, noun
• susˈpiciously, adverb

Other Words From

• sus·picious·ly adverb
• sus·picious·ness noun
• hyper·sus·picious adjective
• hyper·sus·picious·ly adverb
• hyper·sus·picious·ness noun
• over·sus·picious adjective
• over·sus·picious·ly adverb
• over·sus·picious·ness noun
• presus·picious adjective
• presus·picious·ly adverb
• presus·picious·ness noun
• self-sus·picious adjective
• super·sus·picious adjective
• super·sus·picious·ly adverb
• super·sus·picious·ness noun
• unsus·picious adjective
• unsus·picious·ly adverb
• unsus·picious·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of suspicious¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin suspīciōsus, from suspīci(ō) “mistrust” ( suspicion ) + -ōsus -ous

Example Sentences

This may not be the first time the unidentified hooded man left a suspicious bag in the Torrance area.

From Los Angeles Times

A suspicious bag seemingly abandoned on a bench prompted the shutdown of the Torrance courthouse early Wednesday and drew the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad to the scene.

From Los Angeles Times

The Department of Insurance’s Fraud Division began its investigation — dubbed Operation Bear Claw — after an insurance company examined the recording of the Jan. 28 Rolls Royce incident and became suspicious that there was something fishy going on.

From Los Angeles Times

Some of his victims had grown suspicious about who he really was, with Paula concerned enough to use Clare's Law, via which people can request information about a partner's previous offending.

From BBC

Suspicious, the officers unzipped the suitcase’s lining and found a stack of 13 white T-shirts “that were wet and appeared to be caked with a white powdery substance,” according to the affidavit.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• apprehensive
• careful
• cautious
• doubtful
• incredulous
• jealous
• leery
• mistrustful
• skeptical
• wary
• watchful