sus

Sus means suspicious or suspect. If someone is acting sus, they seem shady, untrustworthy or just a little off. It is short for “suspicious” (or “suspect”), and it can be dead serious or completely playful.

What does sus mean?

Sus covers anything that doesn’t add up: a friend who suddenly goes quiet when you mention the missing pizza, a deal that sounds too good, a text that reads weird. It is lighter than calling someone a liar. Saying “that’s kinda sus” leaves room to be wrong.

How to use it

• “You were the last one in the kitchen and now the cake is gone. Sus.”
• “A brand-new account offering me free followers? That’s sus.”
• “He’s been acting sus all week. Something’s going on.”
• “Not gonna lie, that gas station sushi looks a bit sus.”

It is almost always an adjective. Don’t confuse it with the British verb “suss” or “suss out,” which means to figure something out (“I sussed out the password”).

Where it comes from

Sus isn’t new. Merriam-Webster dates its first known use to 1955, and it was common British slang for decades. In the UK, “sus” was also the nickname for the “sus law,” a stop-and-search power police used on mere suspicion, which was later scrapped.

What made it a global meme was Among Us, the 2020 multiplayer game where players try to work out which crewmate is secretly the impostor. Accusing someone of being sus became the game’s catchphrase, and it spilled into everyday talk from there.

Related terms

• cap and no cap: lying and not lying
• red flag: a warning sign, usually in dating
• NPC: someone acting like a background character
• sheesh: an exclamation of disbelief
• yikes: when something is awkward or bad

See more terms like this in our Gen Z slang dictionary.