Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to place under suspicion.

1955		B. Hill Boss of Britain’s Underworld 98: You’ve been sussed for a blag job and you’ve got to stand up in the parade.
1996		Dandy Book n.p.: ‘Gulp! I’m sussed’.

2. to understand, to work out.

1969		Fabian & Byrne Groupie 207: When chicks came round I enjoyed sussing them out, and trying to guess which one would last and which one would be dropped.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 203: Sussed me out Guessed correctly who I was, or what I was doing.
1979		New Musical Express 17 Nov. n.p.: ’Cos there’s such a thing as Mod Suss – you know – sussing out a situation. That’s what Mods are about – suss out a situation immediately, its potential, controlling it.
1981		S. Berkoff Decadence in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 37: Sus out the guy and check his bankability.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 198: suss out: to attempt to work out a situation or a person’s behaviour.
1989		Eve. Sun (Hanover, PA) 30 July 21/4: The meaning of ‘wimpish’ [...] could easily be inferred. I sussed it out [...] What about ‘to pungle up’? [...] Here too the meaning could be sussed.
1989		T. Blacker Fixx 306: Our friend [...] being in fact a bit of a wimpo when it comes to an up-front confrontation, I sussed that he was actually looking for prey.
1994		P. Baker Blood Posse 93: Mom sussed on that something was wrong after a week.
1996		J. Byrell Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 234: Brucie The Rooster had been sussing out the boards of such well-known worthies as Arthur Sing and ‘Digger’ Lobb.
1996		P. Howard The Joy (2015) [ebook] They’ll suss you like a light.
1999		Guardian 10 July 21: Most people seem to have already sussed this out.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 276: First hurdles even bigger. How to sus the procedure.
2002		L. Kwesi Johnson ‘Double Scank’ in Mi Revalueshanary Fren 4: Him site a likkle sistah / him move fi pull a scank / but she soon sus him out.
2004		(con. 1960s-70s) T. Taylor Top Fellas 43/2: [They] sussed the fundamentals — skinhead means tough.
2011		IOL News (Western Cape) 14 May 🌐 Barker, still trying to get rid of Cherel, tries to suss out if the hot shot lawyer can be bought.
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 114: I’ll settle for the Rozakis sussing their kid as the leak, but he’s managed to talk his way out of it.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 104: Carlotta [...] stared until she sussed out what the document meant.

3. to discover.

1976		P. Theroux Family Arsenal 152: ‘You sussed it out?’ ‘No,’ she said, ‘my parents used to take me there.’.
1989		S. Armitage ‘The Stuff’ in Zoom 69: C.I.D. sussed us and found some on us.
1999		Ian Dury ‘Cacka Boom’ 🎵 If you’re cornered suss a wangle; / try it from a different angle.
2006		in D. Seabrook Jack of Jumps (2007) 194: They were following him [...] In the end, he sussed them.
2017		Slate 13 Feb. 🌐 ‘CNN is in the business of sussing out what is true and what is false’.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 337: It took longer than it should have to suss where the voice was coming from.

4. to find attractive.

1996

J. Cameron It Was An Accident 19: Mystery to me though what Rameez sussed in Sharon, not even blonde.

5. to select, to choose.

2021

Breen & Conlon Hitmen 235: ‘You have a spot sussed out’.