- to charge (a person or persons) with some fault, offence, crime, etc; impute guilt or blame
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ac•cuse /əˈkyuz/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object (+ of + object)], -cused, -cus•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to charge with a fault, offense, or crime:They accused him (of murder).
ac•cuse
(ə kyo̅o̅z′),USA pronunciation v., -cused, -cus•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
ac•cus′a•ble, adj.
ac•cus′a•bly, adv.
ac•cus′ant, n.
ac•cus′ing•ly, adv.
v.t.
- to charge with the fault, offense, or crime (usually fol. by of):He accused him of murder.
- to find fault with;
blame.
v.i.
- to make an accusation.
- Latin accūsāre to call to account (ac- ac- + -cūs-, combining form of caus-; see cause)
- Old French acuser
- Middle English ac(c)usen 1250–1300
ac•cus′a•bly, adv.
ac•cus′ant, n.
ac•cus′ing•ly, adv.
- 1. arraign, indict; incriminate, impeach.
- 1, 2. exonerate.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
accuse /əˈkjuːz/ vb
'accusing' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
confession
- accusation
- accusative
- accusatory
- apologize
- blameful
- tu quoque
- self-accusing