Suspect
Pronunciation
Adjective, noun- enPR: sÅs'pÄ•kt, IPA: /ˈsÊŒs.pÉ›kt/
- enPR: səs.pĕkt', IPA: /səsˈpɛkt/
- Rhymes: -ɛkt
Origin
Latin suspectus, perfect passive participle of suspiciÅ ("mistrust, suspect"), from sus-, combining form of sub ("under"), + speciÅ ("watch, look at").
Full definition of suspect
Verb
- (transitive) To imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof.to suspect the presence of disease
- MiltonFrom her hand I could suspect no ill.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 5, Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. 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.
- 2013-06-07, Gary Younge, Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution, WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. 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.
- (transitive) To distrust or have doubts about (something or someone).to suspect the truth of a story
- (transitive) To believe (someone) to be guilty.I suspect him of being the thief.
- (intransitive) To have suspicion.
- (transitive, obsolete) To look up to; to respect.
Synonyms
Noun
suspect
(plural suspects)Adjective
suspect
- Viewed with suspicion; suspected.
- MiltonWhat I can do or offer is suspect.
- 2013-01, Katie L. Burke, Ecological Dependency, 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 a variety of suspect zoonoses—animal-hosted pathogens that infect humans.
Synonyms
- (viewed with suspicion) dodgy informal, doubtful, dubious, fishy informal, suspicious