suspect
pronunciation
How to pronounce suspect in British English:
UK [səˈspekt]
How to pronounce suspect in American English:
US [səˈspekt]
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- Noun:
- someone who is under suspicion
- a person or institution against whom an action is brought in a court of law; the person being sued or accused
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- Verb:
- imagine to be the case or true or probable
- regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in
- hold in suspicion; believe to be guilty
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- Adjective:
- not as expected
Word Origin
- suspect
- suspect: [14] Latin suspicere originally meant literally ‘look up at’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘up from under’ and specere ‘look at’, source of English spectator, spy, etc). It evolved metaphorically along two lines: ‘look up to, admire’, which has since died out, and ‘look at secretly’, hence ‘look at distrustfully’, which has passed into English in the form of its past participial stem suspect-. Suspicion [14] comes from the medieval Latin derivative suspectiō.=> expect, inspect, spectator, spy, suspicion
- suspect (adj.)
- early 14c., "suspected of wrongdoing, under suspicion;" mid-14c., "regarded with mistrust, liable to arouse suspicion," from Old French suspect (14c.), from Latin suspectus "suspected, regarded with suspicion or mistrust," past participle of suspicere "look up at, look upward," figuratively "look up to, admire, respect;" also "look at secretly, look askance at," hence, figuratively, "mistrust, regard with suspicion," from assimilated form of sub "up to" (see sub-) + specere "to look at" (see scope (n.1)). The notion behind the word is "look at secretly," hence, "look at distrustfully."
- suspect (n.)
- "a suspected person," 1590s, from suspect (adj.). Earlier as a noun it meant "a suspicion, mistrust" (late 14c.).
- suspect (v.)
- mid-15c. (implied in suspected), from suspect (adj.) and in part from Middle French suspecter or directly from Latin suspectare "to mistrust," frequentative of suspicere. Related: Suspecting.
Example
- 1. I suspect this is too optimistic .
- 2. Mr radulovich 's sister was even more suspect .
- 3. The suspect takes advantage and fires at jack , but misses .
- 4. I suspect that the non-defaulting governments would be reluctant initially .
- 5. The police arrested her as suspect .