prosecute
verb
Simple meaning
Bring a criminal action against.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prahsuhkyootSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɑsəkjut
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.
verb
Bring a criminal action against (in a trial)
“The State of California prosecuted O.J. Simpson.”
transitivelaw
To start criminal proceedings against.
To seek to obtain by legal process.
transitivelaw
To charge, try.
transitive
To pursue something to the end.
Word at a Glance
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Bring a criminal action against (in a trial)
Used this way, prosecute is a common word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The State of California prosecuted O.J. Simpson.”
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state.
A government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- prosecutionnoun
- rapeverb
- prosecutornoun
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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.