recuse

American  

[ri-kyooz] / rɪˈkjuz /

verb (used with object)

recused, recusing

1. to reject or challenge (a judge, juror, or attorney) as disqualified to act in a particular case, especially because of potential conflict of interest or bias.

2. to disqualify or withdraw (oneself or another person) from any position of judging or decision-making so as to avoid the appearance of personal interest or bias.

   The senator has recused himself from the vote because of his prior association with the company.

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verb (used without object)

recused, recusing

1. to withdraw from any position of judging or decision-making so as to avoid a semblance of personal interest or bias.

recuse British  

/ rɪˈkjuːz, rəˈkjuːz /

verb

1. (tr; reflexive) to remove from participation in a court case due to potential prejudice or partiality

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Usage

What does recuse mean? Recuse most commonly means to withdraw from being in the position of judging a case or presiding over an investigation so as to avoid any partiality or bias. This sense of the word is used reflexively, meaning it’s always followed by a reflexive pronoun, as in recuse yourself, recuse himself, recuse themselves. Less commonly, recuse can mean to reject or challenge a judge or juror due to the belief that they are biased. In both senses, recusing is typically done to avoid a conflict of interest—a situation in which the person doing the voting, judging, or investigating has some personal connection to the case that could influence their decision. People who recuse themselves aren’t resigning—they’re officially excusing themselves from participating. Example: When I was called for jury duty, I knew the man who was on trial so I had to recuse myself.

Other Word Forms

• recusal
  noun
• recusation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of recuse

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English recusen, from Middle French recuser, and from Latin recūsāre “to demur, object”; see recusant

Explanation

The verb recuse is used in legal situations and means to remove someone from a position of judicial authority, either a judge or a member of a jury, who is deemed unacceptable to judge, usually because of some bias. The Latin recusare, meaning "to refuse" is the place to start in the history of recuse. You can recuse someone else, but also yourself. As the sister-in-law of the person accused of stealing 400 gallons of pudding from the local pudding factory, you had no choice but to recuse yourself from judging the trial. Too bad, it sounds like an interesting one.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recuse recused recusing

Diller, who also sits on MGM’s board, said he would recuse himself from any board deliberations on the proposal.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026

Indeed, the last time the companies petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the Boulder case, they hoped to use it as a vehicle to get around Alito’s need to recuse in the other cases.

From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2026

Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., wrote to Kennedy and Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding he recuse himself from work related to vaccine injury compensation.

From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2026

The court “finds no grounds to disqualify or recuse itself.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

Through my cross-examination and attempts to force the judge to recuse himself, I had made the statements I wanted about the unfairness of the court.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Asked whether Brockman and Altman recused themselves from discussions about a deal with Helion during the board meeting, Zilis said yes “but they were still in the room.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

Dupont-Walker and Mitchell announced at the start of the meeting that they had recused themselves from the vote after Metro ethics advisors told them they had a conflict of interest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

Nevertheless he recused from all the connected cases, and the petitions were dismissed.

From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2026

She recused herself from a later meeting on 24 October.

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2026

He came to Vanderbilt and recused himself from the race.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

The justice waited two more weeks before finally recusing himself.

From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2024

He also said that he had delegated the policy to another minister and apologised for not formally recusing himself earlier.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2024

She also told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she would consider recusing herself from any case challenging the law.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 30, 2023

She cut her teeth on Amazon's antitrust scandals, and refused to back down when Meta tried to elbow her into recusing herself.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2023

The council voted 10 to 0 to send the proposal to the ballot for voters to decide, with Councilmember John Lee recusing himself as a board member at West Hills Hospital.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2023