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accuse

verb

Simple meaning

Blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhkyooz

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əkˈjuz

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Bring an accusation against; level a charge against

    “The neighbors accused the man of spousal abuse.”

  2. intransitive

    To make an accusation against someone.

  3. Blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against

  4. transitivelawfollowed by "of"

    To charge with having committed a crime or offence.

  5. transitive

    To find fault with, blame, censure.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Bring an accusation against; level a charge against

To 'accuse' someone is to claim they've done something wrong, often something serious. It implies a formal or strong charge, making it different from simply 'blaming' someone for a small mistake.

Heard in a sentence
“The neighbors accused the man of spousal abuse.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where you'll really hear it

  • Courtroom drama

    “The prosecutor will accuse the defendant of theft.”

  • News headlines

    “Witnesses accuse the company of unethical practices.”

  • Workplace complaint

    “She dared to accuse her colleague of taking credit.”

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use accuse

  • “The neighbors accused the man of spousal abuse.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

ever accusefalsely accuse

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • accusednounInflected form

    A defendant in a criminal proceeding.

  • accusernounInflected form

    Someone who imputes guilt or blame.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • accusationnounDerived noun

    A formal charge of wrongdoing brought against a person.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: bring an accusation against

incriminateimpeach

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.