# suspected

/səˈspɛktɪd/ (US) · /səspˈɛktɪd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/suspected
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. to believe something is likely

verb · CEFR B1

to think that something is probably true or likely to happen.

For teachers: to have an idea or impression of the existence or presence of something without certain proof.

- I suspected that the meeting would be cancelled because the manager was ill.
- The researchers suspected that the initial data contained errors, so they decided to repeat the entire experiment from the beginning.

Usage: Often followed by a 'that' clause or used as a past participle.

### 2. to believe someone is guilty

verb · CEFR B1

to think that someone has done something wrong or committed a crime.

For teachers: to believe someone to be guilty of a crime or offence without having certain proof.

- The police suspected him of stealing the car after they found his keys nearby.
- Although the authorities suspected her of leaking confidential documents, they lacked the physical evidence required to make a formal arrest.

Usage: Commonly used with the pattern 'suspect someone of something'.

### 3. thought to be guilty or a cause

adjective · CEFR B2

describing a person or thing that people think is responsible for a problem or crime.

For teachers: believed to be a cause of a problem or the perpetrator of a crime; typically used before a noun.

- The suspected thief was seen running away from the shop just after noon.
- Health officials identified the suspected source of the outbreak as a local water treatment facility that had recently failed an inspection.

## Examples

- I suspected that he was lying to me.
- The police suspected the man of involvement in the robbery after finding his car near the scene.
- Although the initial data appeared promising, the lead researcher suspected that a calibration error in the equipment had skewed the results toward a false positive.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.