indict
Americanverb (used with object)
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indicts,
present (3rd person singular)
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indicted,
past participle, past
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indicting
present participle
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Law. (of a grand jury) to bring a formal accusation against (someone) as a means of bringing a case to trial after ascertaining that there is enough evidence.
The grand jury indicted him for murder.
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to charge with an offense or crime; accuse of wrongdoing; incriminate; condemn.
He tends to indict everyone of plotting against him.
verb
Usage
What does indict mean? 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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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indictsimple
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indictssimple
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have indictedperfect
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has indictedperfect
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am indictingprogressive
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are indictingprogressive
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is indictingprogressive
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have been indictingperfect progressive
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has been indictingperfect progressive
Past
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indictedsimple
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had indictedperfect
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was indictingprogressive
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were indictingprogressive
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had been indictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of indict
First recorded in 1620–30; variant spelling (from Medieval Latin ) of indite
Explanation
If you accuse someone of committing an offense, you indict them. A book that indicts the entire education system might lay out all the reasons that schools are failing kids. In a legal sense, the verb indict means to bring formal charges against someone, especially in a court of law, as in a federal grand jury. The grand jury indicted, the man on 12 counts of murder. Although it's true the boy had stolen cookies from the cookie jar in the past, that is no reason to indict him out of hand in the present case. There were no witnesses and the crumb evidence would suggest someone else committed the crime.
Vocabulary lists containing indict
You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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Fast Food Nation
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The Hate U Give
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Attorney Jeanine Pirro told a judge in surprising detail that the government’s decision to indict him on a felony charge was ill-informed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
B'Tselem described the decision to indict Levy as the "exception that proves the rule".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Second, it turns out that the grand jury originally refused to indict the Broadview Six, and instead came back with what’s called a “no true bill.”
From Slate ● May 22, 2026
After a judge dismissed the case, two federal grand juries declined to indict James again, and Keller returned to Missouri.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
In other words, the grand jury had decided not to indict the officers.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
In “Violent Saviors” Mr. Easterly indicts an idea he calls “the Development Right of Conquest”—quite the mouthful—which “confers the right to conquer lands on those who bring material progress to these lands.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
“It’ll actually be interesting to see if a grand jury indicts these cases.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
Former federal officers may do so when a state indicts them for actions that were within their official duties and they have a “colorable” defense under federal law.
From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2023
Shortly before a grand jury in New York State indicts somebody, the person typically gets a chance to testify to the jury.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2023
If the people ever wake up, and the District Attorney indicts him, I hope to goodness they put me on the stand, that’s all.”
From The Crevice by Will Grefé
In 2023, a number of civil lawsuits were brought against Harvard alleging the university ignored Lodge's misconduct for several years until he was indicted.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Duane “Keffe D” Davis was indicted three years ago, making him the first person to be charged in the 1996 death of the famous rapper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Though he lost his first attempt in 1986, Jones won their rematch two years later after Swindall had been indicted for perjury in relation to a money-laundering scheme.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
On July 21, Perkins was indicted in federal court in Tennessee along with Harvey and 10 other people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Back at the time of the sanctions controversy, Spassky wasn’t indicted by the French, and Lothar Schmid wasn’t indicted by the Germans.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Police in Texas investigated Lucy's death as possible manslaughter but a grand jury in Collin County decided against indicting her father.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
The Justice Department made the charges public last December—a rare case of indicting a foreign military official for abuse of a U.S. citizen abroad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
But the track’s harshest beatdown is reserved for a final verse indicting the music industry’s silence.
From Salon ● May 8, 2024
But defense lawyers have claimed the government dragged its feet in indicting Washington and Jordan, making it harder for them to defend themselves.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2024
At the time there was some talk of indicting the jury, a strong belief prevailing that their verdict had been bought.
From The Crime of the Century or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin by Henry M. Hunt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
