Achterdochtig

suspicious Iconspeaker_3
[adjective/adverb]
[ach-ter-doch-tig]

Achterdochtig "Achterdochtig" is a nice word to practise your "g/ch" pronunciation. It pertains to people who are suspicious of something. Somebody who behaves in a suspicous manner and is 'suspicious' in that sense is called "verdacht" in Dutch. Similarly a situation can be "verdacht". Note that a "verdachte" is a suspect.
The related noun is "achterdocht": suspicion. Check out the Related Words for more.

Examples:
– "De buurman houdt mij in de gaten merk ik, ik vind het een enge achterdochtige vent." 
("The neighbour is keeping an eye on me I've noticed, I think he is a scary guy who's suspicous of everything!")

– "Doe niet zo achterdochtig, ik heb niks te verbergen!" 
("Stop being so suspicous of everything, I've got nothing to hide!")

– "Ik heb een hekel aan mensen die overal wat achter zoeken, mijn tante is ook zo'n achterdochtig type." 
("I dislike people who always try to see things that don't exist, my aunt is one of those people who is always suspicious of everything.")

– "Tegenwoordig kun je elke kwaal op internet opzoeken. Het gevolg is dat mensen bij elk pijntje achterdochtig raken!" 
("Nowadays you can look up any physical complaint on the internet. The result is that people become suspicious whenever they have a tiny bit of pain.")

Related words:
– Wantrouwig: suspicious, distrustful [adjective/adverb].
– Achterdocht: suspicion, mistrust [noun] [de achterdocht, <no plural>].
– Achterdocht hebben: to be suspicious (of/about).
– Achterdocht wekken: to arouse suspicion.
– Achterdocht koesteren: to harbour suspicion(s).
– Vertrouwen: trust [noun] [het vertrouwen, <no plural>].
– Vermoeden: to suspect [verb] [vermoedde, vermoed].
– Verdacht: suspicious [adjective/adverb].
– Paranoïde: paranoid [adjective]. 

One thought on “Achterdochtig

  1. “De buurman houdt mij in de gaten merk ik….” This seems to translate very literally as “has me marked in the holes.” Is this correct? It would be similar to the English idiom “has me in his sights” (is hunting me, is watching me). An “achterdochtig type” might be a conspiracy theorist.

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