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accused

accused

2 3.6
A person officially charged with a crime in court
  • noun
  • /əˈkjuzd/
translation icon : acusado
  • His grandfather was arrested and accused of treason against North Korean state.

Well, the guy, the accused in the staircase is really rich.

Examples

  • A lot of people also said that the wrong accused were on the bench.

  • And so I appear before you tonight as an accused enemy of the people.

  • Well, the guy, the accused in the staircase is really rich.

  • You could just be accused of something and that's scary.

  • Callum Hudson Adoy was recently accused of it and then acquitted of it.

  • The accused listened nervously as the judge read the charges against him.

  • In the courtroom, the accused pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

  • After a long trial, the jury found the accused innocent of the crime.

Synonyms

defendant
vsaccused
  • Specialized
802 3.7

A person or organization that someone accuses in a court case

refers specifically to people charged with crimes rather than every party sued
indictee
vsaccused
  • Formal
1 9.2

A person officially charged with a crime by a court

is charged in court more generally not only by indictment

Antonyms

54 3.4

A person who is not guilty of a crime or who is naive

How Innocent

exonerated
  • Formal
6.5
clear
257 3.8
innocent
2.2
suspected
3.7
accused
2 3.6
guilty
2.3

Surface Forms

accused singular
accuseds plural

Morphology

accused = accuse (transparent) = accuse + ed

Formed from the verb 'accuse' with the past-participle/adjective suffix '-ed'; the noun meaning 'a person charged' is directly derived from this participial form.

Etymology

Accused comes from Latin parts ad- 'to' and causa 'cause', and is related to the everyday word cause, because it originally meant to 'make a case' or 'bring a charge' against someone. So an accused person is someone who has been officially blamed or charged in court.