suspicious
Pronunciation
- IPA: /səˈspɪʃ.əs/[1]
Etymology
It is Middle English suspecious, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suspecious, Old French suspicios,[2][3][4] from Latin suspiciosus (“causing mistrust; ready to suspect”),[2][4] from suspicio, suspicion, from the stem of suspicere, to look up at, suspect (see suspect).[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Open to or exciting suspicion: 1340 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[5][2]
Semantic evolution
Full of suspicion, inclined to believe ill, is from about 1400 (the late 14th century).[5][2] Expressing or indicating suspicion is from 1478 (the late 15th century).[5][2] Etymonline notes that the two opposite directions of meaning, both present in classical Latin, have caused continued confusion,[2] and that Poe proposed suspectful for the sense feeling suspicion.[2] Suspicious-looking is from 1843.[5]
Timeline
- 1340 – arousing suspicion.[5]
- c. 1400 – inclined to suspect.[5]
- 1478 – expressing suspicion.[5]
- 1843 – suspicious-looking.[5]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Causing or likely to cause suspicion; questionable.
- Inclined to suspect; distrustful.
- Expressing suspicion: a suspicious glance.
Word family
- suspiciously
- suspiciousness
- oversuspicious
- supersuspicious
- unsuspicious
Related words
- suspect
- suspicion
- unsuspecting
- inspect
- spectacle
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press