Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

suspect

 
Dictionary: sus·pect   (sə-spĕkt') pronunciation


v., -pect·ed, -pect·ing, -pects.

v.tr.
  1. To surmise to be true or probable; imagine: I suspect they are very disappointed.
  2. To have doubts about; distrust: I suspect his motives.
  3. To think (a person) guilty without proof: The police suspect her of murder.
v.intr.
To have suspicion.

n. (sŭs'pĕkt')
One who is suspected, especially of having committed a crime.

adj. (sŭs'pĕkt', sə-spĕkt')
Open to or viewed with suspicion: a suspect policy; suspect motives.

[Middle English suspecten, from Old French suspecter, from Latin suspectāre, frequentative of suspicere, to look up at, suspect : su-, sub-, from below; see sub- + specere, to look at.]


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Thesaurus: suspect
Top

verb

    To lack trust or confidence in: distrust, doubt, misdoubt, mistrust. See trust/distrust.

adjective

    Of dubious character: doubtful, equivocal, questionable, shady, suspicious, uncertain. Informal fishy. See honest/dishonest.

Antonyms: suspect
Top

adj

Definition: doubtful
Antonyms: innocent, known, trusted, trustworthy

v

Definition: distrust; guess
Antonyms: know, trust


Law Dictionary: Suspect
Top

As a verb, it is to have a slight or even vague idea concerning, but not necessarily involving knowledge or belief or likelihood. 189 N.Y.S. 2d 704, 708. Ordinarily used in place of the word "believe." 284 F. 996, 1001. As a noun, a person reputed to be involved in crime. A broad term for anyone being investigated by law enforcement authorities. If the individual is formally charged with an offense, the reference is generally to a defendant, rather than a suspect.

Military Dictionary: suspect
Top

(DOD) 1. In counterdrug operations, a track of interest where correlating information actually ties the track of interest to alleged illegal drug operations. See also counterdrug operations; special interest target. 2. An identity applied to a track that is potentially hostile because of its characteristics, behavior, origin, or nationality. See also hostile; neutral; unknown.

Word Tutor: suspect
Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - Someone who is under suspicion v. - Regard as untrustworthy; Imagine to be the case or true or probable.

pronunciation The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything. — Michel Montaigne, Source: Essays

Wikipedia: Suspect
Top

In the parlance of criminal justice, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime.

Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word the suspect when referring to the actor, or perpetrator of the offense (perp for short). The perpetrator is the robber, assailant, counterfeiter, etc. -the person who actually committed the crime. The distinction between suspect and perpetrator recognizes that the suspect is not known to have committed the offense, while the perpetrator [who may not be a suspect yet] is the one who actually did. The suspect may be a different person from the perpetrator, or there may have been no actual crime, which would mean there is no perpetrator.

A common error in police reports is a witness description of the suspect (as a witness generally describes the perpetrator, while a mug shot is of the suspect). Frequently it is stated that police are looking for the suspect, when there is no suspect; the police may be looking for a suspect, but they are surely looking for the perpetrator, and very often it is impossible to tell from such a police report whether there is a suspect or not.

Possibly because of the misuse of suspect to mean perpetrator, police have begun to use person of interest to mean suspect.

Under the judicial systems of the U.S., once a decision is approved to arrest the suspect or bind him over for trial, either by a prosecutor issuing an information, a grand jury issuing a true bill or indictment, or a judge issuing an arrest warrant, the suspect can then be properly called a defendant, or the accused. Only after being convicted is the suspect properly called the perpetrator.

See also

References


Translations: Suspect
Top

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - mistænke, nære mistillid til, mistro, betvivle, formode, have mistanke om
v. intr. - være mistænksom
n. - mistænkt
adj. - mistænkelig, tvivlsom, suspekt

Nederlands (Dutch)
vermoeden, verdenken, argwaan hebben, verdachte

Français (French)
v. tr. - soupçonner, penser que, douter de
v. intr. - soupçonner, douter de
n. - suspect
adj. - suspect, douteux, d'authenticité douteuse

Deutsch (German)
v. - vermuten, bezweifeln, verdächtigen
n. - Verdächtiger
adj. - fragwürdig, verdächtig

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - υποψιάζομαι, υποπτεύομαι, πιθανολογώ, υποθέτω, έχω την εντύπωση, νομίζω
n., -
adj. - ύποπτος

Italiano (Italian)
presumere, sospettare, sospetto

Português (Portuguese)
v. - suspeitar
n. - suspeita (m) (f)
adj. - suspeito

Русский (Russian)
подозреваемый, подозрительный, подозревать, сомневаться в истинности чего-л., предполагать, полагать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - presumir, sospechar, recelar de, recelar
v. intr. - creer que algo, especialmente algo diabólico y malo, sea el caso, tener sospechas
n. - sospechoso
adj. - sospechoso, dudoso

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - misstänka, betvivla, hysa misstankar
n. - misstänkt
adj. - misstänksam

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
疑有, 察觉, 怀疑, 不信任, 猜想, 疑心, 猜疑, 嫌疑犯, 可疑分子, 令人怀疑的, 可疑的, 不可信的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 疑有, 察覺, 懷疑, 不信任, 猜想
v. intr. - 懷疑, 疑心, 猜疑
n. - 嫌疑犯, 可疑分子
adj. - 令人懷疑的, 可疑的, 不可信的

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 알아채다, 깨닫다, (범인이 아닌가)의심하다
v. intr. - 의심을 두다, 혐의를 두다
n. - 용의자, 요주의 인물
adj. - 의심스러운, 수상한, 혐의를 받은

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 感づく, …ではないかと思う, 想像する, 疑いをかける, 怪しむ, 邪推する
adj. - 疑わしい
n. - 容疑者

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يشك في , يشتبه ب (الاسم) المشوه , المشتبه به (صفه) متهم , مشبوه , مشتبه به‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮חשד ב-, חשד בקיום -, סבר, חשד במשהו רע, חשש ל-, הטיל ספק ב-‬
v. intr. - ‮חשד ב-, חשש ל-, חשד במשהו רע‬
n. - ‮חשוד‬
adj. - ‮חשוד, מפוקפק, לא ראוי לאמון‬


Shopping: suspect
Top
 
 
Learn More
asphalt
jalouse
perp walk

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Law Dictionary. Law Dictionary. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Military Dictionary. US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Words, 2003.  Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Suspect" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more