Meanings
- ironicoftenpluralplural onlycrimecriminologyThe people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime.
Major Strasser has been shot... round up the usual suspects.
1942, Murray Burnett, Joan Alison, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains)Synonyms: scapegoat
- broadlyinformalpluralplural onlyThe people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context.
And yet a quiet campaign is in the works to secure landmark protection for the 46-story limestone and glass tower. It is not being led by the usual suspects, like preservationists, community groups or politicians.
2014 September 29, Matt A.V. Chaban, “A Bid to Make the Park Lane Hotel a Landmark, but Not by the Usual Suspects”, in New York Times2 more examples
I think the eco-utopian picture … is an unlikely outcome. I generally avoid over-population arguments. But there’s no question we’re in population overshoot. The catch is we’re not going to do anything about it. There will be no policy. The usual suspects: starvation, war, disease, will drive the population down. There’s little more to say about that really, and it’s certainly an unappetizing discussion, but it’s probably the truth. In any case, we’re in overshoot and we face vast resource scarcities. That’s it. The “usual suspects” are already doing their thing as worldwide food prices go up and peoples on the margin begin to suffer and starve.
2011 May 22, James Howard Kunstler, “Entropy Made Visible”, in TerrainIt was - to be only a little bit unfair - all the usual suspects at the Paris demo. Trotskyite students chanting against the patriarchy; anarchists; grizzled veterans of '68; plenty of pensioners; theatre-workers. In other words the regular left-wing alphabetti-spaghetti.
2016 March 9, Hugh Schofield, “France unions and youths protest against labour reforms”, in BBC NewsSynonyms: regulars
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe people, often scapegoats, routinely arrested in response to a crime.
nounThe people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context.
Origin
The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the film Casablanca (1942), especially since the 1990s.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French toujours les mêmes
- toujours les mêmespeople or things that would be expected to appear
Hungarian a szokásos dolgok/személyek/gyanúsítottak, a szokásos társaság/kompánia
- a szokásos dolgok/személyek/gyanúsítottakpeople or things that would be expected to appear
- a szokásos társaság/kompániapeople or things that would be expected to appear
Cite this entry
usual suspects. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/usual%20suspects
“usual suspects.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/usual%20suspects. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “usual suspects,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/usual%20suspects.
Source: usual suspects on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.