accuse

verb

ac·​cuse ə-ˈkyüz 

accused; accusing

transitive verb

1

: to charge with a fault or offense : blame

He accused her of being disloyal.

2

: to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process

He was accused of murder.

intransitive verb

: to bring an accusation

accuser

ə-ˈkyü-zər 

noun

Synonyms

• charge
• criminate
• defame [archaic]
• impeach
• incriminate
• indict

Examples of accuse in a Sentence

she was accused of lying on the employment application

Recent Examples on the Web

His then-wife also accused him of financial mismanagement, including giving money to other lovers, in a separate court filing. —Jason Allen, CBS News, 3 Jan. 2025

Authors, news outlets, and musicians have accused companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms of infringing on their rights, highlighting the need for clear guidelines on AI's use and creation of intellectual property. —Hamilton Mann, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025

In a news release on Monday, Edward Y. Kim, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said his office and the owner of Katz’s had settled a lawsuit in which the Justice Department, under an initiative begun 13 years earlier, accused the deli of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. —Ed Shanahan, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2025

The new lawsuit filed by Baldoni accuses the New York Times of cherry-picking texts, stripping them of context and deliberately splicing them to mislead readers. —Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English acusen, accusen, borrowed from Anglo-French accuser, acuser, borrowed from Latin accūsāre "to blame, censure, charge with a crime," from ad- ad- + -cūsāre, verbal derivative of causa "legal case, reason, cause" — more at cause entry 1

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

accuse

verb

ac·​cuse ə-ˈkyüz 

accused; accusing

: to blame for wrongdoing : to charge with a fault and especially with a crime

accuser noun

accusingly

-ˈkyü-ziŋ-lē 

adverb

Legal Definition

accuse

verb

ac·​cuse

accused; accusing

transitive verb

: to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process compare indict

intransitive verb

: to make or bring an accusation

accuser noun

Etymology

Latin accusare to find fault with, charge with a crime, from ad to, at + causa legal case, trial