accused

American  

[uh-kyoozd] / əˈkyuzd /

adjective

1. charged with a crime, wrongdoing, fault, etc..

   the accused boy.

---

noun

1. Often the accused a person or persons charged in a court of law with a crime, offense, etc.

accused British  

/ əˈkjuːzd /

noun

1. law the defendant or defendants appearing on a criminal charge

---

Usage

What does accused mean? Accused is an adjective that 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.To accuse someone of something means to say that they are guilty of it. This can happen in everyday situations, such as children accusing each other of not sharing. But accused is most used in the context of the criminal justice system to indicate that a person has been officially charged with a crime.Example: The accused was escorted in the courtroom by police.

Other Word Forms

• misaccused adjective
• self-accused adjective
• unaccused adjective

Etymology

Origin of accused

First recorded in 1585–95; accuse + -ed ²

Example Sentences

To turn their attention to damages, enough jurors had to essentially agree that one or both accused tech platforms was negligently or harmfully designed and users should have been warned, according to verdict forms.

From Barron's

In recent months, immigration authorities have taken undocumented defendants into custody, and in at least one case deported the accused, while federal criminal proceedings were underway.

From Los Angeles Times

But some campaigners pointed to the behaviour of intelligence agencies after the Manchester Arena bombing, when MI5 was accused of misleading the inquiry into the incident.

From BBC

Government forces have been accused of siding with tribal groups despite saying they were intervening to restore order.

From BBC

Mistral was itself accused last month of using copyrighted works including "Harry Potter" and "The Little Prince" to train its AI model, in an investigation by French media Mediapart.

From Barron's