suspicious

/səˈspɪʃ.əs/

//səˈspɪʃ.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"suspicious" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“suspicious” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,189. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,189
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Arousing suspicion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-suspicious · suspicious · English

suspicious · rank #6,189 · 14 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,189
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH surrender

Nearest frequency peer: surrender (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “suspicious”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “suspicious” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

suspicious vs suspiciously
83% similar
suspicious vs suspicion
80% similar
suspicious vs suspicions
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for suspicious
PropertyValue
Headwordsuspicious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/səˈspɪʃ.əs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#6,189
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “suspicious”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).suspiciouslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “surrender” (#6,188), “surprisingly” (#6,187), “teenager” (#6,191). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “suspicious” is #6,189. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around suspicious (IPA /səˈspɪʃ.əs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,189 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for suspicious, with forms such as "ssupicious", "ssuspicious", and "supsicious". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "suspiciously", "suspicion", "suspicions", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French sospecious, from Latin suspiciosus, suspitiosus. The correct English form is suspicious, spelled S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Arousing suspicion.
  2. 2
    Distrustful or tending to suspect.
  3. 3
    Expressing suspicion

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how suspicious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. His suspicious behaviour brought him to the attention of the police.
  2. If their views were entrancing their sanitation was primeval; if they possessed stables they were also next to the gas-works; if their gardens were delightful there were odours suspicious of mice in the bedrooms.

Etymology

From Old French sospecious, from Latin suspiciosus, suspitiosus.

This word in other languages

sospechoso(Español)suspect(Français)verdächtig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ssupicious
  • ssuspicious
  • supsicious
  • susipcious
  • suspciious
  • suspiccious
  • suspiciosu
  • suspiciouss
  • suspiciuos
  • suspicoius
  • suspiicous
  • susppicious
  • susspicious
  • usspicious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of suspicious - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ssupicious2ssuspicious1supsicious2susipcious2suspciious2suspiccious1suspiciosu2suspiciouss1
Edit distance from "suspicious"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "suspicious"?
"suspicious" is spelled S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /səˈspɪʃ.əs/.
What does "suspicious" mean?
As an adjective, "suspicious" means: Arousing suspicion.
What words are commonly confused with "suspicious"?
"suspicious" is commonly confused with "suspiciously", "suspicion", "suspicions". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "suspicious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "suspicious" is /səˈspɪʃ.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "suspicious"?
From Old French sospecious, from Latin suspiciosus, suspitiosus. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "suspicious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

thoroughly#6,193variations#6,198passionate#6,169beneficial#6,211

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

sentenced14 variantsprevented14 variantsarchitect14 variantsinvisible14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list