sus

Formssusses, sussing, sussed

1. 1
   shadyadjectiveslang

   Causing people to be suspicious; seeming dishonest, questionable, or not to be trusted.

   The seller's reviews all looked sus, with the same wording repeated over and over.

   Something about the deal felt sus, so they walked away from the table.

   UsageOften after look, seem or feel: it looked sus. Both more sus and susser occur.

   Similarsketchy, shady, dodgy, fishy, suspicious

   Oppositelegit, trustworthy

   Note

   Here the word points at whatever invites doubt, and it is far older than its recent fame. In The Lives of Frank Norman (1972), Norman calls himself 'a pretty sus looking geezer,' surrounded by street slang like the nick and bogies. The online game Among Us, in which players vote out whoever seems sus, spread the word worldwide in 2020. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The adjective predates its recent fame; Frank Norman's The Lives of Frank Norman was first published in 1972. openlibrary.org
   • Norman describes himself as 'a pretty sus looking geezer'; the surrounding passage includes 'nick' and 'bogies'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Among Us is an online game in which players vote to eject suspected impostors. en.wikipedia.org
   • Among Us brought the word widespread popularity in 2020. en.wikipedia.org
2. 2
   feeling doubtadjectiveslang

   Feeling suspicious; harboring doubts or questions about someone or something.

   He was sus of the new manager from the very first meeting.

   I get sus whenever a stranger is that friendly that fast.

   UsageUse about or of for what you doubt: sus about the new manager, sus of him.

   Similarsuspicious, wary, distrustful, skeptical

   Oppositetrusting

   Note

   Here the suspicion belongs to the person who feels it, not to the thing observed. It is clipped from suspicious, like its two adjective siblings. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Sus meaning 'feeling suspicious', together with its two other suspicious-related adjective senses, is a clipping of suspicious. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   chordadjectiveabbreviation

   Abbreviation of suspended: of a chord in music, with the third replaced by the second or fourth note, as in Csus4.

   The intro rests on a sus chord before the band kicks in.

   She voiced a gentle sus chord to leave the harmony hanging.

   UsageIn chord symbols, write sus after the root note: Csus4, Dsus2. You can also say a sus chord.

   Note

   A musician's shorthand for suspended, used of chords: a sus chord, a harmony left hanging. It shares only its spelling with the slang meanings, since it is cut from suspended rather than suspicious. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Musical sus is a shortening of suspended. en.wiktionary.org
   • The musical and slang adjectives are separate shortenings: suspended and suspicious respectively. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   suggestiveadjectiveslanghumorous

   Behaving in a borderline sexually suggestive way that leads others to joke that one is secretly attracted to someone and hiding it.

   His comment about his friend's abs came off a little sus.

   After he offered to rub sunscreen on his best friend's back again, the group called him sus.

   UsageUse acting sus, sometimes followed by with or around someone. It can come across as homophobic.

   Note

   A joking offshoot of the 'seems shady' meaning, in which the hidden thing is attraction. The humor usually hinges on whether someone is secretly gay or secretly interested, as in the teasing 'are you sure he's not gay?', and because it treats being gay as a punchline, it can come across as homophobic. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The attraction-related sense is a humorous extension of suspiciousness, involving suspected concealed attraction. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted teasing question appears in Wiktionary's example for this sense. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   arrest lawnouncolloquialUKuncountable

   Suspicion of intending to commit an offense, as invoked under the former British 'sus law' permitting arrest on that ground alone.

   Plenty of young men in the neighborhood were charged on sus during those years.

   Under the old law, British police could arrest someone on sus just for hanging around near parked cars.

   UsageUsually after on: charged on sus, arrested on sus.

   Similarsuspicion

   Note

   The noun sus is a short form of suspicion. The law's name refers to suspected person, wording used in the Vagrancy Act 1824. Simon James's British Government: A Reader in Policy Making reports a committee's view that 'sus' had taken on a symbolic weight far beyond its importance as a criminal charge. The word came to stand for far more than the offense itself. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The noun sus is a shortening of suspicion. en.wiktionary.org
   • The law's name derives from 'suspected person', wording appearing in the Vagrancy Act 1824. en.wikipedia.org
   • Simon James is responsible for the book British Government: A Reader in Policy Making. routledge.com
   • James's book reports a committee's view that sus had symbolic significance disproportionate to its importance as a criminal charge, supporting the concluding sentence. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   ban accountverbslangtransitive

   To suspend a user's account on social media, especially Twitter or X, blocking further access.

   Keep posting those leaked screenshots and they'll sus your account again, maybe for good.

   Admins sussed several troll accounts during the height of the argument.

   UsageOften passive: the account got sussed. The s doubles: sussing, sussed.

   Similarsuspend, ban

   Oppositereinstate

   Note

   Because it comes from suspend rather than suspicious, 'got sussed' in this sense means the account was suspended, not that anyone was suspected. The surrounding talk of accounts and platforms usually makes clear which is meant. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The account-suspension verb derives from suspend. en.wiktionary.org

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