accused
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
The person charged with an offense.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhkyoozdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əkˈjuzd
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
law
The person charged with an offense; the defendant in a criminal case.
adjective
Having been accused; being the target of accusations.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The person charged with an offense; the defendant in a criminal case.
The 'accused' is the person who has been charged with a crime but hasn't yet been proven guilty. This term is primarily used in legal contexts and news reporting about legal cases.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where you'll really hear it
Court news report
“The accused maintained his innocence throughout the trial.”
Legal drama script
“The jury must decide the fate of the accused.”
Police procedural
“Officers brought the accused into the interrogation room.”
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use accused
- “The police accused the suspect of stealing the expensive jewelry.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Bring an accusation against.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Someone who imputes guilt or blame.
A formal charge of wrongdoing brought against a person.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: person charged with an offense
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.