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

The Canadian model reportedly accused Renner at the time of dangerous drug use, threatening to kill her and firing a gun with their daughter Ava present, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. —Jack Smart, People.com, 14 July 2025

An actor recently spoke out against a Mesa college professor under investigation after students accused him of encouraging women to strip for a class assignment. —Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 14 July 2025

The company accused the union of spreading misinformation and asserted its wage offers exceed those of competitors. —Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2025

The order last week in district court came after a lawsuit accused the Trump administration of unlawful, indiscriminate targeting with its immigration operations in southern California. —Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 14 July 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