noun
suspicion
suh-SPIHSH-uhn
noun
1
A feeling that something is wrong or that someone has done something wrong, without proof.
"Police arrested him on suspicion of theft."
"Her sudden silence aroused suspicion."
2
A very small trace or hint of something.
"There was just a suspicion of garlic in the sauce."
How to Use Suspicion
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA feeling that something is off or that someone is guilty, or a faint trace of something.
Common pairings
under suspicion
arouse suspicion
a suspicion of
Word Forms
suspicioned past tense, suspicions plural, suspicions singular
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Police arrested him on _____ of theft.
Etymology
From Latin suspicio, from suspicere, "to look up at, mistrust" — from sub- ("up to") plus specere ("to look at").