Literary notes about Suspicious (AI summary)
The term suspicious functions as a multifaceted literary tool, enriching narratives by evoking both an internal state of distrust and an atmosphere charged with ambiguity. It is often employed to signal a moral or intellectual uncertainty—such as when a period of human thought is deemed dubious [1]—or to characterize individuals whose cautious or enigmatic demeanor suggests hidden motives [2, 3]. At times, authors extend its reach to describe settings or incidents that hint at concealed dangers or overlooked discrepancies in behavior, thereby heightening narrative tension [4, 5]. Consequently, suspicious becomes a way to underscore the delicate interplay between trust and doubt, lending layers of complexity to character portrayals and the overall mood of a work [6, 7, 8].
- Moral philosophy is the most suspicious period in the history of the human intellect.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche - But of all these various suspected characters, Pierre was considered to be the most suspicious of all.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - “He shot one of his suspicious looks at me.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - The explorers could not discover one suspicious trace.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - There was something about his manner so suspicious that I asked him point blank if he had been asleep.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - But it was still suspicious how he continually mentioned his personal contacts with the civil servants.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - But I, grown shrewder, scan the skies With a suspicious air, — As children, swindled for the first, All swindlers be, infer.
— from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Emily Dickinson - But apart from her, several other persons were suspicious and inspired involuntary apprehension and uneasiness.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
