suspicious

adjective sus·pi·cious \ sə-ˈspi-shəs \

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

Definition of suspicious

1 : tending to arouse suspicion : questionable

suspicious characters

2 : disposed to suspect : distrustful

suspicious of strangers

3 : expressing or indicative of suspicion

a suspicious glance

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suspiciously

adverb

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suspiciousness

noun

See suspicious defined for English-language learners

See suspicious defined for kids

Examples of suspicious in a Sentence

We were instructed to report any suspicious activity in the neighborhood.
The suspicious vehicle was reported to police.
Suspicious characters were seen hanging around the bank.
He found a suspicious lump on his back and was afraid it might be cancer.
Officials are suspicious about her death.
His manner made me suspicious.

Recent Examples of suspicious from the Web

Police are investigating the suspicious death of a woman in Little Italy.

— kristina davis, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Woman's suspicious death investigated in Little Italy," 14 Apr. 2018
FITCHBURG — Authorities are investigating the suspicious death of a 6-year-old girl who was found unresponsive at a Stoneybrook Road home on Tuesday, according to the Worcester district attorney’s office.

— emily sweeney and danny mcdonald, BostonGlobe.com, "Death of 6-year-old girl triggers investigation in Fitchburg," 10 Apr. 2018
The Skripal attack has revived criticism that Conservative governments were not aggressive enough in investigating the Litvinenko murder and other suspicious deaths of Putin foes in Britain.

— richard pÉrez-peÑa, New York Times, "Britain Signals Harder Look at Wealthy Russians and Russian Wealth," 29 Mar. 2018
The blast was investigated initially as a suspicious death, and later as a homicide.

— jennifer earl, Fox News, "Austin package bomb attacks timeline," 21 Mar. 2018
Some newspapers reported that there had been as many as 14 suspicious deaths.

— The Economist, "Britain holds Russia to account over the Skripal affair," 15 Mar. 2018
How to Get Away With Murder Annalise (Viola Davis) and her inner circle deal with the aftermath of a suspicious death, which culminates with a shocking arrest.

— ed stockly, latimes.com, "Thursday's TV highlights: 'How to Get Away With Murder' on ABC," 15 Mar. 2018
British authorities now intend to investigate 14 other suspicious deaths in Britain of Kremlin opponents.

— trudy rubin, Philly.com, "Unless Trump backs Britain on poison case, Putin will think he's free to murder at will | Trudy Rubin," 14 Mar. 2018
Activists in Iran, however, argue that Emami's death is part of a pattern and that there have been other suspicious deaths in Iranian prisons authorities deemed a suicide.

— cristina maza, Newsweek, "Who Is Kavous Seyed-Emami? Sons of Environmentalist Who Died Mysteriously in Iranian Prison Want Answers, Plead for Mother's Safety," 13 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'suspicious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of suspicious

14th century

suspicious Synonyms

SUSPICIOUS Defined for English Language Learners

suspicious

adjective

Definition of suspicious for English Language Learners

: causing a feeling that something is wrong or that someone is behaving wrongly : causing suspicion
: having or showing a feeling that something is wrong or that someone is behaving wrongly : feeling or showing suspicion