indict

To indict someone is to officially charge them with a crime that will be the subject of a criminal trial.

Indicting a suspect is the final step in the evidence-gathering process before a person is put on trial for a serious crime, especially a felony. The official announcement of this accusation is called an indictment. In the U.S., such indictments are presented by a grand jury—the group of people responsible for determining whether there is enough evidence of a crime for a suspect to be put on trial.

Indict can also be used in a more general way, outside of a legal context, to mean to accuse or strongly criticize, or to reveal something as being deserving of criticism. The noun indictment can also be used in this more general sense.

Example: The suspect has been indicted for armed robbery and will face trial next month.

The first records of the word indict come from around 1300. It ultimately comes from the Latin indīctus, a form of the verb indīcere, meaning “to announce” or “to proclaim.”

To indict is to formally announce a criminal accusation against someone. An indictment is issued only after a prosecutor and a grand jury have determined that police investigators have gathered enough evidence to charge someone with a crime. In the U.S. and the U.K., the law requires an indictment in order to charge someone with a serious crime or felony. This process is intended to ensure that a case only goes to trial if there is sufficient evidence.

Outside of the courtroom, indict is often used in the context of strong criticism of serious wrongdoing, especially when it’s delivered in a formal way, as in Today’s opinion piece indicts the administration’s decision-making. In this sense, to indict isn’t always to make a statement—someone’s bad behavior could indict their character.

What are some other forms related to indict?

• indictment (noun)
• indictable (adjective)
• indictee (noun)
• indicter (noun)
• indictor (noun)
• reindict (verb)
• unindicted (adjective)

What are some synonyms for indict?

• charge
• accuse
• arraign

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

• indite
• dictate

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

• crime
• trial
• felony
• grand jury
• character

What are some words indict may be commonly confused with?

• indite

Indict is usually used in the context of serious crimes or wrongdoing.

Three Former Hilo Correctional Officers Indicted for Assaulting an Inmate and Attempting to Cover it Up https://t.co/EbI1ytTbgu

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) July 1, 2020

In 2013, Nicholas Schmidle wrote about the case against Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci, who was recently indicted for war crimes.https://t.co/X806IwBw6A

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) June 30, 2020

As always, the people who rip on P.K. Subban's character invariably fail and only indict their own. He's great. Get over it.

— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) April 29, 2017

True or False?

Suspects are indicted at the end of a criminal trial.