What does suspicious mean?
Word: Suspicious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Suspicious means feeling that something may be wrong or that someone is not being honest. It can also describe something that makes you feel this way.
Synonyms: doubtful, wary
Antonyms: trusting, trustful
How do you spell suspicious?
Syllables: sus - pi - cious
Tricky part: The sh sound near the end is spelt ci, as in delicious and precious. Suspisious and suspitious are the usual slips.
Watch out for: suspisious, suspitious, suspishous
Memory tip: Line it up with delicious and precious: in all three words the sh sound before the ending is written with a c and an i.
Suspicious in a sentence
Example 1: Our dog gets suspicious of anyone wearing a helmet.
Example 2: Grandma was suspicious of the very cheap mangoes, so she pressed each one for soft spots.
Example 3: The teacher was suspicious when two answer sheets matched word for word.
Fun Fact
Suspicious goes back to a Latin verb built from sub, from below, and specere, to look. The same specere is behind inspect and spectacles.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
suspicious
a) grateful
b) careless
c) curious
d) distrustful
Show answer
d) distrustful. A suspicious person does not trust what they see, which is what distrustful means; curious only wants to know more.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
susspicious
a) c
b) o
c) s
d) p
Show answer
c) s. Only one s follows su at the start of the word.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) suspicious
b) guarantee
c) rehersal
d) privilege
Show answer
c) rehersal. Rehearsal keeps the ear of hear inside it.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
cisuopsuis
a) superstitious
b) suspicious
c) suspension
d) spacious
Show answer
b) suspicious. Count the s's: the jumble has three, spacious has only two, and suspension and superstitious need letters such as n, e, r or t that are missing.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Emma is suspicious of the milk in the jug. What has she most likely noticed?
a) It was bought this morning.
b) It smells a little sour.
c) It is in a clean steel jug.
d) It is cold from the fridge.
Show answer
b) It smells a little sour.
2. A suspicious look from your cat probably shows that it ____.
a) wants to play with its toy
b) is not sure about something new
c) is very pleased to see you
d) is sleepy after a long nap
Show answer
b) is not sure about something new
