suspect meaning
suspect :
doubtful, questionable
adjective
▪ His story sounds suspect.
▪ His story sounds doubtful.
▪ The suspect package was checked.
▪ The questionable package was checked.
paraphrasing
▪ suspicious – doubtful
▪ uncertain – not sure
▪ questionable – not clear
▪ dubious – doubtful
suspect :
person thought to be guilty
noun
▪ The police caught the suspect.
▪ The police caught the person they think is guilty.
▪ The suspect was questioned by the officer.
▪ The person thought to be guilty was questioned by the officer.
paraphrasing
▪ accused – person thought to be guilty
▪ defendant – person in court
▪ culprit – person who did something wrong
suspect :
to think someone is guilty
verb
▪ I suspect he took the book.
▪ I think he took the book.
▪ They suspect she knows the truth.
▪ They think she knows the truth.
paraphrasing
▪ doubt – to not be sure
▪ believe – to think
▪ guess – to think without proof
▪ assume – to think something is true
Pronunciation
suspect [ˈsʌs.pɛkt] (noun)
The stress is on 'sus' and sounds like 'sus-pekt'.
suspect [səˈspɛkt] (verb)
The stress is on 'spect' and sounds like 'suh-spekt'.
Common phrases and grammar about suspect
suspect - Common meaning
adjective
doubtful, questionable
noun
person thought to be guilty
verb
to think someone is guilty
Part of Speech Changes for "suspect"
▪ suspicion (noun) – a feeling of doubt
▪ suspicious (adjective) – causing doubt
▪ suspiciously (adverb) – in a doubtful way
▪ unsuspecting (adjective) – not thinking something is wrong
Common Expressions with "suspect"
▪ suspect a crime – think someone did a crime
▪ suspect foul play – think something bad happened
▪ suspect motives – doubt someone's reasons
▪ suspect someone of something – think someone did something
Important examples of suspect in TOEIC
Vocabulary examples from the TOEIC test
In TOEIC vocabulary questions, suspect is often used to mean to think someone did something wrong.
Example of a confusing word: expect (to anticipate)
Grammar examples from the TOEIC test
In TOEIC grammar questions, suspect is used as a verb and often followed by a noun or gerund.
suspect
Idioms and fixed expressions in TOEIC
prime suspect
main person thought to be guilty
under suspicion
being thought of as guilty
Differences between similar words and suspect
suspect
,
doubt
differences
Suspect means to think someone did something wrong, while doubt means to not be sure about something.
suspect
,
accuse
differences
Suspect means to think someone did something wrong, while accuse means to say someone did something wrong.
Words with the same origin as suspect
The origin of suspect
suspect comes from the Latin 'suspicere', which means 'to look up at or to mistrust'.
Word structure
It has the prefix sus (up), root spect (look), and means 'to look up or mistrust'.
Words with the same origin
The root of suspect is spect (look). Words with the same root include inspect (to look closely), respect (to look again), and expect (to look forward to).
