I. əˈkyüz also aˈ- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English accusen, acusen, from Old French acuser, from Latin accusare to call to account, from ad- + -cusare (from causa cause, lawsuit) — more at cause
transitive verb
1.
a. : to charge unequivocally with a specified or implied wrong or fault often in a condemnatory or indignant manner
the courtiers accused their queen
the planes were accused of spreading cholera, typhus, and bubonic plague — Current History
b. : to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process
c. : to speak censoriously against as culpable or reprehensible
accused the brazen corruptions of the capital — Carl Van Doren
accuses a system rather than any specific persons — Bruce Catton
2. : reveal , betray
sometimes, as she passed a high window, the accusing light fell for a moment on her oval face — Edith Sitwell
intransitive verb
: to bring an accusation : prefer charges
he accused no more, but dumbly shrank before accusing throngs of thought — George Eliot
where thought accuses and feeling mocks — W.H.Auden
the “war party” fretted and accused — New Republic
Synonyms:
charge , indict , impeach , arraign , incriminate , criminate : accuse and charge are frequently interchangeable in meaning to declare a person guilty of a fault or offense. charge may suggest a certain formality in the declaration
charging him with impiety — J.A.Froude
suppose the petitioner falsely and unjustly charged the judge with having excluded him from knowledge of the facts — O.W.Holmes †1935
accuse may suggest stronger personal feeling or interest
Louvet … took his station in the Tribune, saying, “I, Robespierre, accuse thee!” — William Wordsworth
indict indicates formal accusation in or as if in holding for trial
you are here indicted … Lord Dudley [and] Lady Jane Grey, of capital and high treason — Thomas Wyatt
impeach implies a charge, especially one involving corruptness, poor judgment, or malfeasance through duplicity, calling for a defense or answer
any intelligent and noble-minded American can with reason take that side … without having either his reason or his integrity impeached — Kenneth Roberts
why should he be impeaching the Reverend George Barnard for exceptional futility? — Compton Mackenzie
arraign suggests formal presentation of charges with a demand for a plea, defense, or explanation
I was carried down to the sessions house, where I was arraigned — Daniel Defoe
Davies's career … affords the perfect grounds for arraigning both capitalism and socialism — Osbert Sitwell
incriminate and criminate once commonly meant to charge with a crime; in today's use they are more likely to mean involving or inculpating in crime, laying open to charges
the answer need not reveal a crime in order to be incriminating. It is enough if it might furnish a clue … that leads to proof of an illegal act — New Republic
II. noun
( -s )
obsolete : accusation