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suspect

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Imagine to be the case or true or probable.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

suhspehkt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

səsˈpɛkt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Imagine to be the case or true or probable

    “I suspect he is a fugitive.”

  2. transitive

    To distrust or have doubts about (something or someone).

  3. transitive

    To imagine or suppose (something) to be true, or to exist, without proof.

  4. Hold in suspicion; believe to be guilty

    “The U.S. suspected Bin Laden as the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks.”

noun

  1. A person who is suspected of something, in particular of committing a crime.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Imagine to be the case or true or probable

Used this way, suspect is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“I suspect he is a fugitive.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Imagineverb

    “I suspect he is a fugitive.”

  • Holdverb

    “The U.S. suspected Bin Laden as the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks.”

More ways to use suspect

  • “The U.S. suspected Bin Laden as the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks.”verb
  • “I suspect he is a fugitive.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

strongly suspecthighly suspect

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • suspectedadjectiveInflected form

    Believed likely.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • robbery suspectnounCompound term

    Someone suspected of committing robbery.

  • murder suspectnounCompound term

    Someone suspected of committing murder.

  • rape suspectnounCompound term

    Someone who is suspected of committing rape.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: person who is suspected of something

trust

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.