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 of accuse

• 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 United States has imposed sanctions on eight North Korean individuals and two entities, accusing them of laundering funds from cybercrime and fraud and channeling them into the North’s nuclear weapons program. —Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025

Agents with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office last week arrested two Helena-West Helena residents, one of them an employee with the state Department of Corrections, accused of working together to defraud the state's Medicaid program, a Tuesday news release from Griffin's office states. —Arkansas Online, 5 Nov. 2025

Davis had previously been accused in a domestic violence case by a different ex-girlfriend; that case was dropped in August. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 4 Nov. 2025

Famine has taken hold in two cities in Sudan’s Darfur region, after a siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces which has been accused of mass killings. —Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 4 Nov. 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