suss out

idiom

British, informal

1

: to find or discover (something) by thinking

They had to suss out whether he was telling the truth.

I'm trying to suss him out. What kind of person is he?

I think I've got him sussed out.

2

: to inspect or investigate (something) in order to gain more knowledge

He carefully sussed out the situation.

Examples of suss out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their ability to suss out the strategy seems to be linked with the depth of their sleep: 85.7 percent of the people who reached N2 sleep during their nap figured it out, compared with just 63.6 percent of those who reached N1 sleep and 55.5 percent of those who did not drift off to sleep. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 June 2025

Michelin Guide inspectors check in anonymously, evaluate hotels’ unique concepts and personalities, and suss out the quality of their hospitality. —Ann Abel, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025

After all, one of the show's guiltiest pleasures is searching each contestant's face during the reveal to suss out their true feelings. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 13 June 2025

Monday was largely relegated to jury selection, as attorneys for each side sought to suss out bias by prospective jurors. —Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 2 June 2025

Rhymes for suss out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout