Definition of 'suspicion'
Word forms: plural suspicions
1. variable noun [oft NOUN that, under N]
Suspicion or a suspicion is a belief or feeling that someone has committed a crime or done something wrong.
[Also + of]2. variable noun
3. countable noun [oft NOUN that]
4. singular noun
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
suspicion in British English
noun
1.
3.
the state of being suspected
to be shielded from suspicion
5. See above suspicion
6. See on suspicion
7. See under suspicion
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
suspicional (susˈpicional) adjective
suspicionless (susˈpicionless)
adjective
Word origin
C14: from Old French sospeçon, from Latin suspīciō distrust, from suspicere to mistrust; see suspectWord Frequency
suspicion in American English
verb transitive US
4. Informal, Dialectal
to suspect
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME suspecion < Anglo-Fr suspecioun < OFr sospeçon < LL suspectio, orig., a looking up to, esteeming, later with sense and sp. of L suspicio, suspicion < L suspectus, pp. of suspicere, to look up at, admire, look secretly at, mistrust, suspect
Word Frequency
suspicion in American English
(səˈspɪʃən)
noun
1.
act of suspecting
2.
the state of mind or feeling of one who suspects
Suspicion kept him awake all night long
3.
an instance of suspecting something or someone
4.
state of being suspected
under suspicion
above suspicion
5.
transitive verb
SYNONYMS 2. doubt, mistrust, misgiving. suspicion, distrust are terms for a feeling that appearances are not reliable. suspicion is the positive tendency to doubt the trustworthiness of appearances and therefore
to believe that one has detected possibilities of something unreliable, unfavorable,
menacing, or the like: to feel suspicion about the honesty of a prominent man. distrust may be a passive want of trust, faith, or reliance in a person or thing: to feel distrust of one's own ability. 7. not standard
to suspect
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1250–1300; ME ‹ L suspīciōn- (s. of suspīciō), equiv. to suspīc- (var. s. of suspicere to look from below, suspect) + -iōn- -ion]Examples of 'suspicion' in a sentence
suspicion
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In other languages
suspicion
British English: suspicion
NOUN /səˈspɪʃən/
Suspicion or a suspicion is a belief or feeling that someone has committed a crime or done something wrong.
Don't do anything that might cause suspicion.
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suspicion
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suspicion
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Definition of suspicion from the Collins English Dictionary
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