accuser

An accuser is someone who accuses someone of a crime or offense—says that they are guilty of it.

Doing so is called making an accusation.

Accusing can happen in everyday situations, such as children accusing each other of not sharing, but accuser is typically only used in serious situations, especially when someone accuses someone else of committing a crime.

The person against whom the accusation is made can be described with the adjective accused. 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. 

In many legal systems, the accused has the right to face their accuser in court.

Example: This verdict has finally brought some justice to his many accusers.

The first records of the word accuser come from the 1300s. It ultimately derives from the Latin accūsāre, meaning “to call to account,” from causa, “lawsuit.”

Some accusations are more serious than others, and the word accuser is typically reserved for a person making a very serious accusation, especially one involving a crime. Often, this crime was committed against the accuser, such as some kind of abuse. But an accuser can also be someone who witnessed the crime or has evidence or firsthand knowledge of it. Although people who are accused of a crime in the U.S. have a right to face their accuser during a trial, there are also laws that attempt to protect accusers from retribution, such as after reporting harmful behavior in the workplace.

What are some other forms related to accuser?

• self-accuser (noun)
• accuse (verb)

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

• accusation
• cause

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

• face
• court
• crime
• claim
• false
• wrongdoing
• offense
• mistake
• allege
• charge

Accuser is almost always used in serious contexts involving the accusation of a crime.

Huge development. Many of Epstein’s accusers have been waiting for this day. https://t.co/wkK0KxaCL3

— Savannah Guthrie (@SavannahGuthrie) July 2, 2020

Everyone needs to take this experience, and learn from it.
Do not idolize top players. Do not harass people who are just telling their stories. They are not just "accusers" – they are people, individual persons who've had to live through both the trauma itself & the harassment.

— Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) July 4, 2020

You have the right to face your accuser, even if it's an algorithm. https://t.co/NVmNGn1pay

— Pierre Omidyar (@pierre) September 17, 2017

Is accuser used correctly in the following sentence?

She was described as a credible accuser in media reports.