/seuh spish"euhn/ , n.
1. act of suspecting.
2. the state of mind or feeling of one who suspects: Suspicion kept him awake all night long.
3. an instance of suspecting something or someone.
4. state of being suspected: under suspicion; above suspicion.
5. imagination of anything to be the case or to be likely; a vague notion of something.
6. a slight trace, hint, or suggestion: a suspicion of a smile.
v.t.
7. Nonstandard. to suspect.
[ 1250-1300; ME suspicion- (s. of suspicio ), equiv. to suspic- (var. s. of suspicere to look from below, SUSPECT) + -ion- -ION ]
Syn. 2. doubt, mistrust, misgiving. SUSPICION, DISTRUST are terms for a feeling that appearances are not reliable. SUSPICION is the positive tendency to doubt the trustworthiness of appearances and therefore to believe that one has detected possibilities of something unreliable, unfavorable, menacing, or the like: to feel suspicion about the honesty of a prominent man. DISTRUST may be a passive want of trust, faith, or reliance in a person or thing: to feel distrust of one's own ability.