accuse

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.

The first records of the word accuse come from the second half of the 1200s. It ultimately derives from the Latin accūsāre, meaning “to call to account,” from causa, “lawsuit.”

You might accuse your family members of not listening to you, or accuse one of them of eating the last muffin (when you specifically said you were saving it!). But some accusations are more serious than others.

Accusing someone of a crime is a serious thing to do. Even if they are not found guilty, having been accused may permanently hurt their reputation. Still, just because someone is accused (or charged and indicted) doesn’t mean that they are automatically found guilty of the crime they are suspected of committing (to falsely accuse someone is to lie and claim they did something when you know they didn’t). In most court systems, the accusation (and the guilt of the person) needs to be proven. And, in many cases, the accused has the right to face their accuser in court. Still, the word accuse typically implies that the accuser has firsthand knowledge or evidence of the crime that they claim was committed.

What are some other forms related to accuse?

• accused (past tense verb, adjective)
• accusation (noun)
• accuser (noun)
• accusatory (adjective)
• accusatorial (adjective)
• accusal (noun)
• accusable (adjective)
• accusably (adverb)
• accusant (noun)
• accusingly (adverb)

What are some synonyms for accuse?

• arraign
• indict
• incriminate
• impeach

What are some words that share a root or word element with accuse? 

• cause

What are some words that often get used in discussing accuse?

• crime
• claim
• falsely
• wrongdoing
• offense
• mistake
• allege
• charge

Accuse is used in serious and not-so-serious ways, but it always involves claiming that someone did something wrong.

Yeah. The first thing racists do when they are caught being racist is accuse the person of color who perceives the racism of being unfair or overly sensitive. Unfortunately, other people with questionable views on race will find this bogusness quite persuasive. https://t.co/in6p8f34bC

— Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) May 14, 2020

A Baltimore city police sergeant has been accused of kidnapping a man in order to get a refund on a home improvement project. https://t.co/F4CHSQerNj

— WTOP (@WTOP) July 10, 2020

please don’t accuse me of having an attitude that i DON’T have. nothing that irritates me more than being accused of something not true😂

— jor 🧚🏽 (@joordynxoxo) July 8, 2020

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of accuse?

A. charge
B. indict
C. acquit
D. incriminate