suss

1 of 2

verb

ˈsəs 

sussed; sussing; susses

transitive verb

1

chiefly British : figure out

—usually used with out

2

chiefly British : to inspect or investigate so as to gain more knowledge

—usually used with out

suss

2 of 2

adjective

less common spelling of sus

slang

: suspicious, suspect

… things became a bit sus when there was a dubious fire on the premises …

—Shannen Findlay

Last week, American Airlines took its turn, canceling over 1,600 flights. Weather was dutifully blamed again, along with staffing shortages. But the latter excuse is, as the kids say, pretty sus. Airlines that accepted federal pandemic relief money (and they all did) were barred from laying off workers.

—Amy Roberts

I used to think that at-home hair colors and dyes were kind of sus, and that there was absolutely no way you could get salon-level color from a box.

—Ama Kwarteng

… she has not questioned how De Bruijn was able to swim that fast, at least not publicly. Others have. "Pretty suss" is the way [Australia's Susie O'Neill] described it …

—Jack McCallum

Examples of suss in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Those were the two elements that was hard to suss. —Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025

Scorpios wear their hearts close to their chest and suss people out before letting them in. —Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 21 Oct. 2025

Adjective

Scorpios wear their hearts close to their chest and suss people out before letting them in. —Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 21 Oct. 2025

Here’s the case for Scorpio: Wednesday is suss, secretive, brooding, vengeful and stubborn. —Lisa Stardust, People.com, 6 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

by shortening & alteration from suspect

First Known Use

Verb

1966, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing suss

• suss out

Rhymes for suss

• bus
• buss
• cuss
• fuss
• glace
• huss
• plus
• pus
• russ
• sus
• thus
• truss