What does ‘sus’ mean in Among Us and on TikTok?

You're acting kind of sus right now.

Image via Innersloth

Among Us is one of the most popular socially driven video games around. Since it can be easily streamed for an audience, the game exploded when content creators started to play it together.

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As is often the case when games start to be played by influencers, certain phrases and terminology are brought to the forefront. And with Among Us, “sus” is perhaps the most associated word.

Sus doesn’t have any sort of special meaning in and of itself. It is simply an abbreviation of the word “suspicious.” 

Because players are given a short period of time to discuss with one another in between rounds where they are required to perform tasks, cutting the word “suspicious” down from three syllables to just one has some inherent value when players are trying to figure out who in their group is the imposter.

Naturally, the phrase “sus” has started to leak into other areas of the internet and is an abbreviation that is used in regular conversations outside of Among Us. If you happen to hear the phrase outside of an Among Us game, whoever is using it is probably also using it as an abbreviation for the word “suspicious.”

Author
Image of Max Miceli
Max Miceli
Senior Staff Writer. Max graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism and political science degree in 2015. He previously worked for The Esports Observer covering the streaming industry before joining Dot where he now helps with Overwatch 2 coverage.