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

• indict
• blame
• charge
• sue
• prosecute

Examples of accuse in a Sentence

she was accused of lying on the employment application

Recent Examples on the Web

In corroborating much of the testimony Pentagon intelligence official David Grusch offered in July 2023, Elizondo also accused the Department of Defense of hiding its UFO programs from Congress while misappropriating funds to operate them. —Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025

The charges of reckless endangerment of children are because Reed is accused of firing a gun in a parking lot where children were present, North Richland Hills police spokesperson Carissa Katekaru said. —Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Sep. 2025

The underlying feud dates back to November 2021, when Relli accused Rocky of firing a gun at him during a heated confrontation in Hollywood. —Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 9 Sep. 2025

Court records show that one of those firms, Regulatory DataCorp, provides reports on customers to Capital One — the very financial institution that Trump’s family business has accused of debanking. —Jake Pearson, ProPublica, 9 Sep. 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

Rhymes for accuse

• accrues
• aircrews
• amuse
• bamboos
• breakthroughs
• canoes
• cashews
• chartreuse
• confuse
• construes
• defuse
• ensues

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