suspect 1 of 3

noun

Definition of suspectnext
as in defendant

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suspect

2 of 3

verb

sə-ˈspekt How to pronounce suspect (audio)
1
as in to guess
to form an opinion from little or no evidence we suspected that the runaway was a little younger than the 16 she claimed to be—more like 13

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to doubt
to have no trust or confidence in I suspected him from the moment he said he was an old friend of my sister's, since I probably would have heard about him

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suspect

3 of 3

adjective

ˈsə-ˌspekt How to pronounce suspect (audio)
as in questionable
giving good reason for being doubted, questioned, or challenged since she was carrying no cash or credit cards, her claim to the store's detectives that she had intended to pay for the items was suspect

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of suspect
Noun
The suspect then allegedly waved the knives before stabbing the 68-year-old man in the right side of the abdomen, according to the police commissioner. — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026 The suspect and the officer who was struck by her were both treated for non-life-threatening injuries. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Verb
The cause of the flooding remains unclear, though scientists suspect a glacier collapse and say climate change may have contributed. — Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Until the Galileo spacecraft photographed Ida and Dactyl, astronomers suspected some asteroids could have their own moons, but Galileo proved it once and for all. — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 28 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for suspect
Recent Examples of Synonyms for suspect
  1. defendant
  2. guess
  3. doubt
  4. questionable
  5. culprit
  6. assume
  7. question
  8. suspicious
Noun
  • In this case, because the families of the victims and the defendant are intertwined, competing interests may interfere with consensus.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Hayes entered Alford pleas in May 2024, a type of guilty plea in which a defendant does not admit guilt.
    — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of defendant
Verb
  • Tom Even non-football fans can probably guess who this one is about.
    — Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Instead of guessing the right prompt keywords, a user can simply instruct the model to track the camera left, soften the lighting or maintain a character's expression across different scenes.
    — Coco Mao, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of guess
Verb
  • An April Politico poll shows Republicans are much more likely to doubt the science behind vaccines instead of saying the science is clear when compared to Democrats.
    — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Without a clear message from Warsh, investors began to doubt the Fed’s inflation-fighting resolve.
    — Brian Cheung, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of doubt
Adjective
  • Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) plays a government agent working in the Department of Alien Affairs, who gets caught up in a world of questionable ethics and violence.
    — Grace Dean, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • She was recently listed as questionable due to a back injury ahead of a game against the Toronto Tempo, but started both games against the expansion team last week.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of questionable
Noun
  • Over the years, culprits have ranged from El Niño and climate change to the World Trade Organization, rock ‘n’ roll music and the fluoridation of water.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Steven Tian and Stephen Henriques, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Dakik flagged artificial sweeteners and excess caffeine as culprits.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of culprit
Verb
  • Goldman’s model assumes SMIC will add between 30,000 and 50,000 advanced-node wafers in monthly capacity each year from 2026 through 2031.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Golden Tempo, meanwhile, assumed his position near the back of the field as his deep closing style has delivered huge glory in the past.
    — Danny Brewer, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of assume
Verb
  • Critics also questioned whether UCLA’s athletic department had adapted quickly enough to the NIL era.
    — Ira Gorawara, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • At Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas, Muslim students had used a spare classroom to pray without incident from 2009 to 2017, when Paxton’s office sent the district a letter questioning whether other students were being excluded.
    — Asma Uddin, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of question
Adjective
  • Glendale police received multiple calls about a suspicious male adult, with officers first responding to a retail store in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • By the time something appears suspicious, causality is fragmented across systems, logs and identities.
    — Brian Contos, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of suspicious

Browse Nearby Words

susceptiveness
suspect
suspected
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Cite this Entry

“Suspect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/suspect. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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