accuse
Americanverb (used with object)
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accuses,
present (3rd person singular)
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accused,
past participle, past
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accusing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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accuses,
present (3rd person singular)
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accused,
past participle, past
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accusing
present participle
verb
Usage
What does accuse mean? To accuse someone means to say that they are guilty of a crime or offense. This can happen in everyday situations, such as children accusing each other of not sharing. But accuse is also used in a legal context in the sense of accusing a person of a crime, especially in an official way. Accuse is often followed by the person being accused, the word of, and the specific wrongdoing, as in The teacher accused Ted of cheating. It’s also commonly used in a passive way, as in Ted was accused of cheating. When you accuse someone of something, you’re making an accusation. A person who accuses is called an accuser (especially when the accusation involves a crime). The adjective accused 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. Statements that suggest or outright say that someone did something wrong can be described as accusatory. Example: If you’re going to accuse them of something that serious, you better have some evidence to back it up.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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accusantnoun
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accusernoun
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interaccuseverb (used with object)
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preaccuseverb (used with object)
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reaccuseverb (used with object)
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accusableadjective
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accusingadjective
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nonaccusingadjective
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self-accusingadjective
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unaccusableadjective
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unaccusingadjective
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accusablyadverb
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accusinglyadverb
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unaccusinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accusesimple
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accusessimple
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have accusedperfect
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has accusedperfect
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am accusingprogressive
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are accusingprogressive
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is accusingprogressive
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have been accusingperfect progressive
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has been accusingperfect progressive
Past
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accusedsimple
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had accusedperfect
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was accusingprogressive
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were accusingprogressive
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had been accusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accuse
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ac(c)usen, from Old French acuser, from Latin accūsāre “to call to account,” from ac- ac- + cūs-, combining form of causa “case, reason, sake” ( see cause) + āre, infinitive suffix
Explanation
If you charge someone with misdeeds or misconduct, you accuse that person. If the last piece of devil's food cake is missing, your sister may accuse you of eating it — especially if you have chocolate on your mouth. The verb accuse comes from the Latin word accusare, which itself is formed from the roots ad, meaning toward, and causa, reason or lawsuit. "Cause," "excuse," and even "ruse" are all from that same root word. Today, if you're accused of a crime, you may still be headed toward a lawsuit. However, to accuse someone of a crime doesn't necessarily make them guilty — plenty of people have been falsely accused.
Vocabulary lists containing accuse
Wasn't Me: The Lingo of Laying Blame
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 4
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Dead End in Norvelt
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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:
After a similar incident in 2012, the family who were kicked off appeared on NBC's Today Show to accuse the airline of showing a lack of humanity.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Writing to a friend about this bold retrospective, Sand asserts that “the public is too ignoble for me . . . either to accuse myself or to justify myself about anything before it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Officials accuse Cloth of knowingly taking the investors money for personal uses, including the development of a real estate project in Canada.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Farmers in the Po delta accuse all their rivals up the Po valley of leaving them with too little.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
How could anybody accuse her of stealing them?
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Apple, for its part, accuses OpenAI’s head of hardware Tang Tan, a former vice president of design at Apple, of using his knowledge of unreleased Apple products to extract information from job candidates.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
A lawsuit accuses the Justice Department and Todd Blanche of stonewalling the state’s investigation into activities at Zorro Ranch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The lawsuit accuses Blanche and the DOJ of perpetuating “that disgrace” of failing to investigate or hold Epstein accountable before his death.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Uefa publishes its first statement saying football is "not Fifa's to sell", and accuses Fifa of 'crossing a line'.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Arlo accuses me of trying to get attention.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
California accused Paramount of "blackmail" on Tuesday over a reported threat to pull the company out of the state because of lawsuits aimed at stopping its mega-merger with Warner Bros.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The candidate is linked to — but not accused of any wrongdoing in — a corruption case involving two former advisors and a lobbyist who siphoned $225,000 money from one of Becerra’s campaign accounts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
In June, the force started an unrelated criminal investigation into another detective accused of using AI systems to "create evidential material in a number of cases".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Miller denies any wrongdoing, claims his ex-wife has struggled with “significant mental health challenges,” and has accused his former father-in-law of spreading “lies.”
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Audiences paid to hear Heman loudly crack his big toe inside his boot while Chauncey accused the “Rochester girls” of creating fake spirit rappings using the same method.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
A judge temporarily paused Mamdani’s new tax on luxury second homes after residents filed a lawsuit accusing the city of botching the rollout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Scott Pelley was fired shortly after publicly challenging the appointment of Nick Bilton as executive producer and accusing Weiss of “murdering” the broadcast.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Viewers were shocked by the price tag for a 5-year-old, accusing the post of promoting excessive consumerism.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
He claimed the women had profited from selling dozens of his daughter's items at auctions in the US in 2021 and 2023, accusing them of having "deliberately concealed" their sale.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
She didn’t seem to be accusing his father, either.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
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.
