suspicious
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suspicious
Becoming mistrustful, skeptical, or thoughtful because something seems unexpected, illogical, or strange. Describes the moment of pausing and doubting.
Als er plötzlich seine Meinung änderte, wurde ich stutzig.
When he suddenly changed his mind, I became suspicious.
'Stutzig' (suspicious) is closely related to the verb 'stutzen', which means 'to pause briefly' or 'to hesitate'. You become suspicious when you pause because of a strange detail and start thinking.
Er stutzte, als er den unerwarteten Namen auf der Liste sah.
He paused when he saw the unexpected name on the list.
'Stutzig' (suspicious) rarely describes a permanent state, but rather the moment when mistrust arises. Therefore, it is almost always used with the verb 'werden' (to become): 'stutzig werden' (to become suspicious).
Ich wurde stutzig, als er mir keine direkte Antwort gab.
I became suspicious when he didn't give me a direct answer.
There is also the active construction 'jemanden stutzig machen' (to make someone suspicious). Here, a thing or a piece of information is the cause of a person's mistrust.
Sein seltsames Verhalten am Telefon machte mich stutzig.
His strange behavior on the phone made me suspicious.
Very often, the reason for the mistrust is explained in a subordinate clause with 'weil' (because) or 'als' (when). The structure is: 'Ich wurde stutzig, weil/als ...' (I became suspicious because/when ...).
Sie wurde stutzig, weil die Tür offen stand, obwohl sie sie abgeschlossen hatte.
She became suspicious because the door was open, even though she had locked it.
skeptical
Both words can express doubt about a statement. Stutzig mainly describes the moment when an unexpected or strange detail makes you pause. Skeptisch refers more to the questioning attitude that remains afterward or is deliberately directed against the statement.
Als die Zahlen plötzlich nicht mehr passten, wurde ich stutzig.
When the numbers suddenly no longer added up, I became suspicious.
Nach dem Gespräch blieb ich skeptisch und prüfte seine Angaben selbst.
After the conversation, I remained skeptical and checked his information myself.
