Suspectée

Suspectée is the feminine singular past participle of the verb suspecter, used as an adjective or in a passive construction to indicate that someone is under suspicion of a wrongdoing or crime. It denotes a state of questioning or investigation rather than proven guilt.

Usage is common in legal, journalistic, and formal contexts. It can modify a feminine noun, as in une femme suspectée d’avoir volé des documents, or appear predicatively in a sentence like Elle est suspectée d’un cambriolage. The form also appears in plural: des personnes suspectées. While the masculine counterpart suspecté exists, suspectée specifically marks feminine agreement.

Morphology and agreement: suspectée agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. In compound tenses with avoir, the participle can also agree with a preceding direct object, as in les personnes que nous avons suspectées. When used with être in a passive sense, elle est suspectée, the participle agrees with the subject.

Nuance and usage notes: suspectée conveys uncertainty and is typically used before guilt is established. It often carries legal or media-related connotations, signaling that an investigation is ongoing or that suspicion has been publicly raised, without asserting culpability.

Etymology: suspectée derives from suspecter, which comes from Latin suspectus, the past participle of suspicere, meaning to look at with suspicion. The form reflects standard French gender and number agreement rules for participles used attributively or in passive constructions.