allegation

noun

al·le·ga·tion | \ ˌa-li-ˈgā-shən

Definition of allegation

1 : the act of alleging something

2 : a positive assertion especially of misconduct Some former colleagues have made serious allegations against him. specifically : a statement by a party to a legal action of what the party undertakes to prove

3 : an assertion unsupported and by implication regarded as unsupportable

Examples of allegation in a Sentence

The police are investigating allegations that the mayor has accepted bribes. There have been allegations of fraud in the city government. You're making a serious allegation. Do you have any proof?

Recent Examples on the Web

During the Cold War there were allegations that the Soviet Union was dabbling in psychic research as a means of espionage or warfare, but there is no evidence any of the research actually uncovered anything useful. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Journal Claims Russian Troops Have Psychic Powers," 4 Apr. 2019 Duterte said Acierto was the only police official who has made the allegations against the two men. — Jim Gomez, The Seattle Times, "Duterte asks why critical ex-police officer ‘is still alive’," 26 Mar. 2019 The video Sanders shared was a lie, and had Infowars and Sanders made the same allegations against Acosta using the exact same clip C-SPAN and NBC did, their supporters would likely still have believed the government’s claims. — Bijan Stephen, The Verge, "The White House used a doctored video to tell a lie," 8 Nov. 2018 The report comes amidst newfound and recent misconduct allegations and seeming tolerance of misbehavior by prominent men in Silicon Valley, including at Google, Uber, Tesla, SpaceX, and elsewhere. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "Over a decade, Google handsomely paid 3 men accused of misconduct, per report," 25 Oct. 2018 Russia has denied those allegations and fired back a rebuke of the U.S. withdraw, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the move will make the world a more dangerous place, according to Reuters. — Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, "US decision to withdraw from Cold War-era nuke treaty draws rebuke from Russia," 23 Oct. 2018 Now, The Blast reports that in new documents Ross is denying the allegations and saying the night didn't occur as Silva said. — Claire Dodson, Teen Vogue, "Ross Butler Denied He Was Involved in an Alleged Plot to Steal a Kurt Cobain Guitar," 17 Oct. 2018 This document is only a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "The Creator of the Shitty Media Men List Is Being Sued—and You Can Help Fund Her Legal Fees," 12 Oct. 2018 This series on Lifetime may have finally changed that overlooked hypocrisy, as scores of women—the vast majority women of color—came forward with their harrowing, heartbreaking allegations of abuse. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "The Best Documentaries of 2019 That Are Already Changing Everything," 20 Mar. 2019

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