suspect
/səˈspɛkt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/səˈspekt/
suspect verb: to imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof.
Verb
suspect (third-person singular simple present suspects, present participle suspecting, simple past and past participle suspected)
- To imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof.
- to suspect the presence of disease
- From her hand I could suspect no ill.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- To distrust or have doubts about (something or someone).
- to suspect the truth of a story
- An inhabitant of Gubio, in the duchy of Urbino, in Italy, suspecting the fidelity of his wife, he, in a fit of jealousy, in order to find out whether his suspicion was true, did what the ecclesiastick history informs us Origen did from devotion.1785, James Ridgway, A Dictionary of Literary Conversation
- To believe (someone) to be guilty.
- I suspect him of being the thief.
- Synonyms:
- accuse, point the finger at
- To have suspicion.
- To look up to; to respect.
Noun
UK/ˈsʌspɛkt/Australia/ˈsɐspekt/
suspect (plural suspects)
- A person who is suspected of something, in particular of committing a crime.
- Round up the usual suspects.1942, Casablanca, written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch
Adjective
UK/ˈsʌspɛkt/Australia/ˈsɐspekt/
suspect (comparative more suspect, superlative most suspect)
- Viewed with suspicion; suspected.
- What I can do or offer is suspect.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 2
- In his first book since the 2008 essay collection Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, David Quammen looks at the natural world from yet another angle: the search for the next human pandemic, what epidemiologists call “the next big one.” His quest leads him around the world to study...2013 January, Katie L. Burke, “Ecological Dependency”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2017, page 64
- Viewing with suspicion; suspecting.
- Now I’m suspect of other advice that I read in your pages.2004, Will Nickell, letter to the editor of Field & Stream, Volume CIX Number 8 (December 2004–January 2005), page 18
suspect meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
suspect in Hindi
- imagine or suppose to be true, without proof
- संदेह sandeh
- distrust, have doubts about
- संदेह sandeh
- believe to be guilty
- संदिग्ध sandigdh
- have suspicion
- संदेह sandeh
suspect in Tamil
- சந்தேகத்திற்குரிய நபர், சந்தேகப்படு, ஐயமுறு
suspect in Urdu
- suspect
- مشکوک maśkūk
suspect in Bengali
- সন্দেহভাজন ব্যক্তি, সন্দেহভাজন, সন্দেহজনক, সন্দেহ করা, ধারণা করা, অবিশ্বাস করা
More languagesFewer languages
- suspect in Telugu
- అనుమానించు anumāniñcu, అనుమానితుడు anumānituḍu, అనుమానితురాలు anumāniturālu
- suspect in Malayalam
- കുറ്റം ഉണ്ടെന്നു വിചാരിക്കുക, ശരിയാണോ എന്ന് ശങ്കിക്കുക, ഊഹിക്കുക, സംശയിക്കുക
- suspect in Kannada
- ಸಂದೇಹಾಸ್ಪದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ಗುಮಾನಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವವನು, ಶಂಕಿತ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ಉರು
- suspect in Sanskrit
- शङ्कते śáṅkate, शङ्क् śaṅk
- suspect in Arabic
- ...اِشْتَبَهَ بِ ...ištabaha bi, مُشْتَبَه بِهِ muštabah bihi, مَشْبُوه mašbūh
- suspect in Persian
- مَظنون maznun
- suspect in Thai
- ผู้ต้องสงสัย pûu-dtɔ̂ng-sǒng-sǎi
- suspect in Vietnamese
- nghi phạm
Examples of suspect in a sentence
- He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
- To today’s far right, Israel is a firm ally against Islam, while “cosmopolitans,” many of whom just happen to be Jewish, are suspect.2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents:
- What appears suspect about the Beeching Report is how quickly it was railroaded through, with the answers manufactured before the questions were asked.2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 52:
Synonyms of suspect
4 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of suspect
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | suspects |
| present participle | suspecting |
| past participle | suspected |
| past | suspected |
| Noun | |
| plural | suspects |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more suspect |
| superlative | most suspect |
Origin of suspect
From Old French suspect, from Latin suspectus, perfect passive participle of suspiciō (“mistrust, suspect”), from sub (“under”), + speciō (“watch, look at”).
Words formed from suspect
Words that rhyme with suspect
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- respect
- deflect
- dissect
- expect
- redirect
- correct
- defect
- disconnect
- infect
- inflect
- neglect
- resurrect
- unchecked
- abject
- bisect
- deject
- deselect
- genuflect
- incorrect
- inspect
- interject
- introspect
- object
- sect
- wrecked
- conject
- convect
- decked
- detect
- elect
- intersect
- necked
- perfect
- prospect
- protect
- recollect
- reconnect
- select
- subject
- trisect
- bandreject
- cathect
- cobra effect
- counterobject
- despect
- disinfect
- disject
- disrespect
Questions about suspect
- What does suspect mean?
- Suspect means to imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof.
- What is suspect in Hindi?
- Suspect in Hindi is संदेह (sandeh), संदिग्ध (sandigdh). See Suspect meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use suspect in a sentence?
- He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.
- What part of speech is suspect?
- Suspect can be a verb, a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce suspect?
- Suspect is pronounced /səˈspɛkt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of suspect?
- The past tense of suspect is suspected.
Words near suspect in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: suspect (page history and authors); suspect (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); مشکوک (Urdu) (page history and authors); suspect (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); suspect (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); suspect (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); शङ्कते (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-suspect.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-suspect (verb).wav.
Cite this entry: “suspect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/suspect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.