accuse

verb ac·cuse \ ə-ˈkyüz \

|Updated on: 9 Jul 2018

Examples: accuse in a Sentence

Definition of accuse

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

play \ə-ˈkyü-zər\ noun

See accuse defined for English-language learners

See accuse defined for kids

Examples of accuse in a Sentence

she was accused of lying on the employment application

Recent Examples of accuse from the Web

Dotcom and his co-accused have always maintained their innocence.

— Fortune, "Megaupload's Kim Dotcom Is Now One Step From Being Extradited to the U.S. for His Huge Copyright Infringement Trial," 5 July 2018
Enfield police were called to Alexander’s parents’ Pearl Street home on March 17 for a domestic violence incident during which Alexander, who authorities say had been drinking, was accused of assaulting his 69-year-old mother.

— david owens, courant.com, "Judge Denies Former State Rep Alexander's Effort To Avoid Prosecution In Assault Case," 5 July 2018
An Aurora man accused of killing an Oswego softball coach in a hit-and-run crash was not wearing required glasses at the time and had a DUI case pending against him, Kendall County prosecutors said.

— megan jones, Aurora Beacon-News, "Aurora man accused of killing softball coach in hit-and-run crash was not wearing required glasses: prosecutors," 3 July 2018
Krause also noted other violent crimes Cooper had been accused of committing and asked why authorities would have planted evidence against him.

— bob egelko, SFChronicle.com, "Gov. Jerry Brown hints at new DNA testing in Kevin Cooper murder case," 3 July 2018
Critics on the right pounced, accusing the left of a lack of civility.

— anthony man, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Fort Lauderdale mayor favors in-your-face confrontation of Trump officials," 3 July 2018
Sais’ law partner blamed the relationship for taking a toll on the firm’s business and accused Sais of not being in the office enough — an accusation Sais denied.

— kristina davis, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Ex-Tijuana judge says money woes led to cocaine smuggling," 3 July 2018
Two additional underage victims have come forward to accuse Carlos Bedoya, 63, of Lake in the Hills, of assaults that reportedly took place between Aug. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2017, according to court records.

— rafael guerrero, Elgin Courier-News, "5th round of child abuse/assault charges filed against former Carpentersville substitute teacher," 2 July 2018
Even though Drew Barrymore has dived head-first into the beauty industry with her brand, Flower Beauty, no one would ever accuse her of being vain or taking herself too seriously.

— marci robin, Allure, "This Drag Queen Used Makeup to Turn Into Drew Barrymore, and She Could Not Be More Thrilled," 30 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accuse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of accuse

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 ¹cause

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First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

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