indictment
noun
Simple meaning
An official formal accusation for a criminal offence, or the process by which it is brought to a jury.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihndytmuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈdaɪtmənt
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
An official formal accusation for a criminal offence, or the process by which it is brought to a jury.
countableuncountable
An accusation of wrongdoing; a criticism or condemnation.
“The book is an indictment of modern philosophy.”
law
The official legal document outlining the charges concerned; bill of indictment.
Evidence of failure or poor performance.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An official formal accusation for a criminal offence, or the process by which it is brought to a jury.
Used this way, indictment is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Official and authoritative
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
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 indictment
- “The book is an indictment of modern philosophy.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A formal document written for a prosecuting attorney charging a person with some offense.
An indictment charging someone with murder.
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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.