suspicious

suspicious
suspect, suspicious
1. Suspect is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable as a noun (the chief suspect) and adjective (a suspect package), and with the stress on the second syllable as a verb (They suspect something).
2. As an adjective, suspect is close in meaning to suspicious; both mean essentially ‘causing suspicion’. The chief differences are (1) that suspicious can also be used to describe a person (= feeling suspicion, as in They were suspicious of our intentions), and (2) that suspect has additional connotations regarding worth or reliability (suspect farm produce).
3. The adverb suspiciously can mean either ‘in a manner expressing suspicion’ or ‘in a manner causing suspicion’, depending on the context: She looked at us suspiciously is an example of the first meaning and She was behaving suspiciously is an example of the second. An adverb suspectly is recorded but is hardly ever used in current English.

Modern English usage. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Suspicious — Sus*pi cious, a. [OE. suspecious; cf. L. suspiciosus. See {Suspicion}.] 1. Inclined to suspect; given or prone to suspicion; apt to imagine without proof. [1913 Webster] Nature itself, after it has done an injury, will ever be suspicious; and no… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • suspicious — I (distrustful) adjective apprehensive, cautious, concerned, disposed to doubt, doubting, dubious, fearful, hard to convince, hesitant, inconvincible, jealous, leery, mistrustful, nervous, quizzical, skeptical, suspecting, suspiciosus, untrustful …   Law dictionary

  • suspicious — [adj1] distrustful apprehensive, cagey, careful, cautious, doubtful, green eyed*, incredulous, in doubt, jealous, leery, mistrustful, not born yesterday* on the lookout*, questioning, quizzical, skeptical, suspect, suspecting, unbelieving,… …   New thesaurus

  • suspicious — deserving of or exciting suspicion, mid 14c., from O.Fr. suspecious, from L. suspiciosus exciting suspicion (see SUSPICION (Cf. suspicion)). Meaning full of or inclined to feel suspicion is attested from c.1400. Edgar Allan Poe (c.1845) proposed… …   Etymology dictionary

  • suspicious — ► ADJECTIVE 1) having or showing suspicion. 2) giving an impression of dishonest or dangerous character. DERIVATIVES suspiciously adverb suspiciousness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • suspicious — [sə spish′əs] adj. [ME suspecious < OFr < L suspiciosus] 1. arousing or likely to arouse suspicion in others 2. showing or expressing suspicion 3. a) feeling suspicion b) tending habitually to suspect, esp. to suspect evil suspiciously adv …   English World dictionary

  • suspicious — adj. 1 not trusting sb VERBS ▪ be, feel, look, seem, sound ▪ become, get, grow ▪ I think t …   Collocations dictionary

  • suspicious — sus|pi|cious S3 [səˈspıʃəs] adj 1.) thinking that someone might be guilty of doing something wrong or dishonest suspicious of ▪ Some of his colleagues at work became suspicious of his behaviour. suspicious about ▪ They were suspicious about my… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • suspicious — [[t]səspɪ̱ʃəs[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED: oft ADJ of n/ ing If you are suspicious of someone or something, you do not trust them, and are careful when dealing with them. He was rightly suspicious of meeting me until I reassured him I was not writing… …   English dictionary

  • suspicious — sus|pi|cious [ sə spıʃəs ] adjective ** 1. ) believing that someone has probably done something wrong: Colleagues became suspicious when he started acting strangely. a ) feeling that someone or something cannot be trusted: suspicious of: People… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • suspicious */*/ — UK [səˈspɪʃəs] / US adjective 1) believing that someone has probably done something wrong Colleagues became suspicious when he started acting strangely. a) feeling that someone or something cannot be trusted suspicious of: People are often… …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”