Synonyms of suspect

suspect 1 of 3

noun

as in defendant

Related Words

• defendant
• culprit
• offender
• arrestee
• fish
• criminal
• detainee
• accused
• accomplice
• lawbreaker
• principal
• misdemeanant
• miscreant
• crook
• malefactor
• outlaw
• perpetrator
• convict
• perp
• desperado
• villain
• jailbird
• trespasser
• wrongdoer
• sinner
• thug
• transgressor
• gangster
• hoodlum
• mobster
• hooligan
• racketeer
• misdoer
• gallows bird
• misfeasor
• button man
• evildoer
• blackhander

Dissimilar Words

• lawman
• gangbuster

suspect

2 of 3

verb

sə-ˈspekt 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• guess
• assume
• suppose
• think
• presume
• imagine
• speculate
• suspicion
• surmise
• believe
• daresay
• conjecture
• infer
• conclude
• expect
• deduce
• hypothesize
• gather
• theorize
• reckon
• judge
• conceive
• hypothecate
• take

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• prove
• establish
• demonstrate
• determine
• learn
• ascertain
• document
• validate
• find out
• substantiate

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• doubt
• question
• distrust
• mistrust
• misdoubt
• disbelieve
• discredit
• discount
• negate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• trust
• depend (on or upon)
• rely (on or upon)
• count (on or upon)
• bank (on or upon)

suspect

3 of 3

adjective

ˈsə-ˌspekt 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• questionable
• suspicious
• dubious
• disputable
• doubtful
• problematic
• debatable
• alleged
• fishy
• unclear
• ambiguous
• shaky
• queer
• equivocal
• unlikely
• shady
• doubtable
• dodgy
• dubitable
• supposed
• uncertain
• weak
• moot
• undetermined
• improbable
• undecided
• so-called
• flimsy
• open
• far-fetched

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sure
• certain
• indisputable
• undeniable
• undoubted
• unquestionable
• incontestable
• unproblematic
• indubitable
• definitive
• obvious
• decisive
• questionless
• clear
• positive
• hands-down
• open-and-shut

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of suspect

Noun

Saturday, the victims were involved in an argument when a suspect pulled out a firearm and shot them in the 100 block of West Erie Street, Chicago police said. — Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026

By this summer, prosecutors had finally added Urich to the Bild indictment and named Einhorn as a suspect in the case. — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026

Verb

In nearly a third of petitions, beneficiaries requested a detailed accounting of the trust’s finances, which Horton said reflects beneficiaries who suspected their trustees were mismanaging funds or ripping them off. — Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026

Leigh suspected that growing up in Scientology had been traumatic for Beck. — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026