v. 1
To find fault with, blame, censure.
v. 2
To charge with having committed a crime or offence.
For the U.S. President to be impeached, he must be accused of a high crime or misdemeanor.
v. 3
To make an accusation against someone.

Related words

Word family: accusal accusee accusive accuser accusation accusative accusatory

Forms

Past participle: accused
e.g. accused → incriminated, charged, impeached, indicted…

Choose the right word

Accuse or Charge?

Accuse is stronger than charge, suggesting more of the formal and criminal; a person may charge a friend with unkindness or neglect; he may accuse a tramp of stealing.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

cite The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
impeach You guys in America can impeach your president too.
indict The grand jury decided not to indict the police officer.
incriminate He remained silent so as to not incriminate himself.
blame It sounds as if he were to blame for the disaster.
denounce The alterglobalists denounce growing inequalities.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
accuse		rising
cite		steady
impeach		falling
indict		steady
incriminate		falling
blame		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: tax¹
4 letters: cite¹, twit
5 letters: blame¹, fault¹, taunt¹, decry²
6 letters: charge¹, finger², indict², defame², delate, charre
7 letters: suspect², condemn², impeach², censure², arraign²
8 letters: denounce², reproach²
9 letters: criminate, inculpate
11 letters: incriminate⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (decry² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: accuser
Italiano: accusare
Español: acusar
Deutsch: beschuldigen
Català: denunciar