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suspect

 - 6 dictionary results

sus⋅pect

  [v. suh-spekt; n. suhs-pekt; adj. suhs-pekt, suh-spekt]
Use suspect in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof: to suspect a person of murder.
2. to doubt or mistrust: I suspect his motives.
3. to believe to be the case or to be likely or probable; surmise: I suspect his knowledge did not amount to much.
4. to have some hint or foreknowledge of: I think she suspected the surprise.
–verb (used without object)
5. to believe something, esp. something evil or wrong, to be the case; have suspicion.
–noun
6. a person who is suspected, esp. one suspected of a crime, offense, or the like.
–adjective
7. suspected; open to or under suspicion.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME (adj.) < L suspectāre, equiv. to su- su- + spectāre, freq. of specere to look at

Related forms:
sus⋅pect⋅i⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
3. guess, conjecture, suppose.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To suspect
sus·pect   (sə-spěkt')   
v.   sus·pect·ed, sus·pect·ing, sus·pects

v.   tr.

  1. To surmise to be true or probable; imagine: I suspect they are very disappointed.

  2. To have doubts about; distrust: I suspect his motives.

  3. To think (a person) guilty without proof: The police suspect her of murder.

v.   intr.
To have suspicion.
n.   (sŭs'pěkt')
One who is suspected, especially of having committed a crime.
adj.   (sŭs'pěkt', sə-spěkt')
Open to or viewed with suspicion: a suspect policy; suspect motives.

[Middle English suspecten, from Old French suspecter, from Latin suspectāre, frequentative of suspicere, to look up at, suspect : su-, sub-, from below; see sub- + specere, to look at; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

suspect  (adj.)
1340, from O.Fr. suspect "suspicious," from L. suspectus "suspected, suspicious," pp. of suspicere "look up at, mistrust, suspect," from sub "up to" + specere "to look at" (see scope (1)). The notion is of "look at secretly," hence, "look at distrustfully." The verb is attested from 1483; the noun meaning "a suspected person" is first recorded 1591.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: sus·pect
Pronunciation: 's&s-"pekt, s&-'spekt
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin suspectus, from past participle of suspicere to look up at, regard with awe, suspect, from sub- sus- up, secretly + specere to look at
: regarded or deserving to be regarded with suspicion or heightened scrutiny

Main Entry: sus·pect
Pronunciation: 's&s-"pekt
Function: noun
: a person suspected of a crime; also : a person apprehended for but not yet charged with an offense

Main Entry: sus·pect
Pronunciation: s&-'spekt
Function: transitive verb
1 : to imagine (one) to be guilty on slight evidence or without proof
2 : to imagine to exist or be probable suspect abuse>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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