21 December 2025
How do you say Suspicion in German?
When something doesn’t feel right - when the facts don’t add up, or someone seems a little too quiet - Germans call that feeling Verdacht. It’s a word that lives in police stations, courtrooms, and anxious inner thoughts.
The noun Verdacht means suspicion, suspicion of wrongdoing, or a hunch, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. You’ll hear it constantly in crime stories, journalism, and legal settings.
It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Verdacht.
Pronunciation
Verdacht is pronounced approximately [fer-DAKHT], with short a and the Bach sound before t.
- The ch is hard, like in Bach,
- Final -t is pronounced sharply,
- Stress is on the second syllable: fer-DAKHT
It ends with a punch - just like the mood it evokes.
Example sentences:
- Die Polizei hatte einen konkreten Verdacht.The police had a specific suspicion.
- Es bestand der Verdacht auf Betrug.There was suspicion of fraud.
Nuance and usage tips
Verdacht refers to strong suspicion, often with a legal or medical edge:
- Criminal/legal context
- Tatverdacht - suspicion of a crime
Tatverdächtiger / Verdächtiger - suspect
verdächtig - suspicious - unter Verdacht stehen - to be under suspicion
Verdacht schöpfen - to become suspicious - jemanden verdächtigen - to suspect someone (verb form)
- Tatverdacht - suspicion of a crime
- Medical/diagnostic
- Verdacht auf Krebs - suspected cancer
- klinischer Verdacht - clinical suspicion
- Everyday hunches
- Ich habe so einen Verdacht… - “I have a feeling…” (casual but ominous)
Related vocabulary:
- Gewissheit means certainty and
- Beweis means proof; proof is not a direct antonym of suspicion.
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:Der Verdacht fiel auf den Nachbarn.Suspicion fell on the neighbor.
- Accusative:Sie äußerte den Verdacht sehr vorsichtig.She voiced the suspicion very carefully.
- Dative:Mit dem Verdacht begann die Untersuchung.The investigation began with the suspicion.
- Genitive:Wegen des Verdachts wurde er festgenommen.Because of the suspicion, he was arrested.
Masculine case pattern: der, den, dem, des
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Verdacht
🎥 Learn Verdacht and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free video course:Watch the 1000 German Nouns video course
Alternate translations note:For lighter “suspicions” (like you suspect someone’s hiding a birthday gift), you might say Ahnung or use a softer phrasing. But when it’s serious - whether criminal, medical, or emotional - Verdacht is the word.Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Verfassung means? How about Vergnügen? Find out!
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