indict

American  

[in-dahyt] / ɪnˈdaɪt /

verb (used with object)

indicts, present (3rd person singular) indicted, past participle, past indicting present participle

1. 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.

2. to charge with an offense or crime; accuse of wrongdoing; incriminate; condemn.

   He tends to indict everyone of plotting against him.

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indict British  

/ ɪnˈdaɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to charge (a person) with crime, esp formally in writing; accuse

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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

• indictee
  noun
• indicter
  noun
• indictor
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• indicting
  present
• indicted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• indict
  simple
• indicts
  simple
• have indicted
  perfect
• has indicted
  perfect
• am indicting
  progressive
• are indicting
  progressive
• is indicting
  progressive
• have been indicting
  perfect progressive
• has been indicting
  perfect progressive

Past

• indicted
  simple
• had indicted
  perfect
• was indicting
  progressive
• were indicting
  progressive
• had been indicting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will indict
  simple
• will have indicted
  perfect
• will be indicting
  progressive
• will have been indicting
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

We have this almost innate sense of: Well, if they indict someone, that person probably did something pretty bad.

From Slate • May 22, 2026

But grand juries refused to indict many demonstrators accused by federal prosecutors of attacking agents, and a Times review of alleged assaults found that most incidents resulted in no injuries.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

Three grand juries declined to indict Reid for felony assault.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

Last month, a Texas grand jury declined to indict the federal agent who shot Martinez.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

It was unheard of to indict someone for perjury without any investigation or compelling evidence to establish that a false statement had been made.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Related Words

• accuse
• charge