accuse

[uh-kyooz]

verb (used with object)

accused, accusing 

1. to charge with the fault, offense, or crime (usually followed byof ).

   He accused him of murder.

   Synonyms: impeach, incriminate, indict, arraign
   Antonyms: exonerate

2. to find fault with; blame.

   Antonyms: exonerate

verb (used without object)

accused, accusing 

1. to make an accusation.

accuse

/ əˈkjuːz /

verb

1. to charge (a person or persons) with some fault, offence, crime, etc; impute guilt or blame

Other Word Forms

• accusing adjective
• accuser noun
• accusingly adverb
• accusable adjective
• accusably adverb
• accusant noun
• 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of accuse¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of accuse¹

C13: via Old French from Latin accūsāre to call to account, from ad- to + causa lawsuit

Example Sentences

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit in which Drake had accused the world’s biggest record company of defaming him with the release and promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning diss track “Not Like Us.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Already, a flurry of complaints have been filed over the last 10 months accusing various L.A and California officials of failing to prepare for and respond to the fire.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The 64-year-old former FBI chief is accused of falsely stating that he had not authorized another FBI employee to be an anonymous source in news reports.

Read more on Barron's

The Ukrainian energy minister also said that Russian forces were "inflicting a massive strike" on the energy grid, a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of sowing "chaos" with such attacks.

Read more on Barron's

Many Republicans accused the committee of politicizing the prize two years after former Vice President Al Gore, like Obama, a Democrat, won the award for raising awareness about climate change.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• allege 
• arraign 
• arrest 
• attack 
• blame 
• brand 
• charge 
• cite 
• complain 
• denounce 
• implicate 
• indict 
• name 
• prosecute 
• sue 
• summon 

When To Use

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.