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Definition of suss in English:

suss

verbsusses, sussing, sussed

[with object]informal

  • 1Realize or grasp (something)

    ‘he's sussed it’
    with clause ‘she sussed out right away that there was something fishy going on’
    • ‘After all, how boring would it be if scientists and Doctors had already sussed out what makes the mind tick?’
    • ‘He immediately susses that something is not quite cool with what Nicole is telling everyone.’
    understand, comprehend, follow, take in, realize, perceive, see, apprehend, assimilate, absorb, make sense of, master, get to the bottom of, penetrate
    1. 1.1Discover the true character or nature of.
      ‘I reckon I've got him sussed’
      • ‘It's another thing I get from my mum - we're quite good at sussing character.’
      • ‘All our holidays were working holidays - we used to go and suss out all the hotels.’
      • ‘Some locals, including two men on a tractor and a bicycle, rambled over for a chat and to suss out the commotion that had descended on the local village.’
      • ‘If you want to check your money supply, you can find companies that sell devices to suss out the high-tech fakes.’
      • ‘He was here yesterday, a very charming fellow, to suss out the electrical situation and see what's what.’
      • ‘Each Member State is represented on this committee, which is the interface between the Commission and the Council, and it is here that positions on issues are sussed out.’
      • ‘After a few hours my identity as a journalist is sussed out.’
      • ‘While all of the six supporting councillors' flexibility was sussed out, most of the effort was concentrated on Cavanagh.’
      • ‘This, of course, is their downfall, and they're sussed out by Cat.’
      • ‘It's about rewarding staff, having fun and team-building - there is no question of employees' abilities being sussed out.’
      • ‘Aristotle, in the 4th century BC, decided that everything had been sussed out, which included, one supposes, his belief that rainfall was not a sufficient factor to make the rivers run.’
      • ‘Some spies had been sussed out by the staff, so they changed our passes.’
      • ‘We sussed out a lovely circular walk that will be ideal for exercising the legs of visitors after a heavy meal, or building an appetite in advance of one.’
      • ‘Not only did she lead us unerringly to the car park, she sussed out a shortcut en route.’
      • ‘Each author is a great writer, and each seems to have well and truly sussed out the audience of this series.’
      discover, detect, find, find out, hunt down, hunt out, unearth, uncover, disinter, turn up, dig up, seek out, ferret out, root out, nose out, bring to light, expose, recover, capture, catch, smell out, sniff out, run to earth, run to ground, run down

noun

mass nouninformal with adjective or noun modifier

  • Knowledge or awareness of a specified kind.

    ‘his lack of business suss’

adjective

informal

  • Shrewd and wary.

    ‘he is too suss a character to fall into that trap’
    • ‘I tried telling them that my father died in a fire years ago and that my Uncle adopted me but they were suss about it.’
    • ‘I knew that Christian and Katelyn were suss about what we were talking about earlier.’
    perceptive, discerning, percipient, perspicacious, penetrative, piercing, penetrating, discriminating, sensitive, incisive, keen, keen-witted, acute, sharp-witted, quick, quick-witted, clever, shrewd, astute, intelligent, intuitive, bright, agile, nimble, nimble-witted, alert, quick off the mark, ready, apt, fine, finely honed, rapier-like, probing, searching, insightful, knowing

Origin

1930s abbreviation of suspect, suspicion.

Pronunciation

suss

/sʌs/