accuse
Americanverb
Usage
What does accuse mean? To accuse someone means to say that they are guilty of a crime or offense.This can happen in everyday situations, such as children accusing each other of not sharing. But accuse is also used in a legal context in the sense of accusing a person of a crime, especially in an official way.Accuse is often followed by the person being accused, the word of, and the specific wrongdoing, as in The teacher accused Ted of cheating. It’s also commonly used in a passive way, as in Ted was accused of cheating. When you accuse someone of something, you’re making an accusation. A person who accuses is called an accuser (especially when the accusation involves a crime). The adjective accused means charged with a crime or other offense. Accused is also used as a noun to refer to a person or people who have been charged with a crime, often as the accused. Statements that suggest or outright say that someone did something wrong can be described as accusatory.Example: If you’re going to accuse them of something that serious, you better have some evidence to back it up.
Other Word Forms
- accusable adjective
- accusably adverb
- accusant noun
- accuser noun
- accusing adjective
- accusingly adverb
- interaccuse verb (used with object)
- nonaccusing adjective
- preaccuse verb (used with object)
- reaccuse verb (used with object)
- self-accusing adjective
- unaccusable adjective
- unaccusing adjective
- unaccusingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of accuse
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ac(c)usen, from Old French acuser, from Latin accūsāre “to call to account,” from ac- ac- + cūs-, combining form of causa “case, reason, sake” ( cause ) + āre, infinitive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was accused of ceasing his rent payments in October 2016, two months before his lease came to an end in December of that year.
From MarketWatch
Since Nazarbayev stood down as president in 2019, Kazakhstan's new government has begun pursuing a legal case in Switzerland to try to recover millions from individuals and companies it accuses of corruption.
From BBC
A Cambodian bank founded by accused scam boss Chen Zhi, who has been indicted by the United States over a multibillion-dollar fraud and extradited to China, was ordered liquidated Thursday, Cambodia's central bank said.
From Barron's
Court documents filed this week show that the companies are finalizing settlements in lawsuits in which families accused them of not putting in enough safeguards before publicly releasing AI chatbots.
From Los Angeles Times
The accused will now be represented in court by a public defender.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
