suspicion
noun
Simple meaning
The state of being suspected.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhspishuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
səsˈpɪʃən
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The state of being suspected
“He tried to shield me from suspicion.”
The act of suspecting something or someone, especially of something wrong.
The condition of being suspected.
An impression that something might be the case
Doubt about someone's honesty
Uncertainty, doubt.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The state of being suspected
Used this way, suspicion is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He tried to shield me from suspicion.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use suspicion
- “He tried to shield me from suspicion.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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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.