# accused

Pronunciation: say "uh-KYOOZD" /əˈkjuzd/

## Noun

1. The person formally charged with an offense, who stands as defendant in a criminal case.
   - Simple: A person who has been charged with a crime and is on trial.
   - _The accused entered a plea of not guilty at the arraignment._
   - _Defense lawyers argued that the accused had a solid alibi for that night._

## Adjective

2. Charged with wrongdoing or singled out as the target of accusations.
   - Simple: Blamed for doing something wrong, or charged with a crime.
   - _The accused executive resigned before the hearing even began._
   - _Crowds gathered to support the accused activists outside the courthouse._

## Verb

3. Simple past and past participle of accuse. — simple past and past participle of accuse
   - Simple: Simple past and past participle of accuse. Use this form for something that already happened.
   - _The committee accused the senator of misusing public funds._
   - _He was accused of fraud after the audit revealed serious discrepancies._

## Origin

First attested in the 1590s, the noun was formed from the verb "accuse" (meaning "blame") with the suffix "-ed."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/accused (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).