Accusing

How to spell accusing

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce accusing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does accusing mean?

1. verbCharging someone with a fault, crime, or wrongdoing; present participle of accuse.
2. adjectiveExpressing or suggesting that someone is to blame.

Accusing in a sentence

• verb

  The manager was accusing the supplier of inflating the invoice.

• adjective

  She shot him an accusing glance across the meeting room.

• verb

  Without any evidence, accusing a colleague of theft can backfire badly.

• adjective

  His accusing tone made the whole team feel responsible for the delay.

Where does accusing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb accusare, meaning to call someone to account or to bring a charge against them. That verb was built from ad-, meaning toward, plus causa, which originally meant a cause or, very specifically, a legal case or lawsuit; so to accuse someone was literally to direct a legal cause at them. English took the word in through Old French acuser during the 1300s, and the spelling later drifted back toward its Latin shape with the doubled c. The same causa root sits inside the everyday words cause and excuse, which is a useful reminder that the tricky middle of accusing is a c followed by a single s, not a double s. The participle form accusing has long been used both for the act of charging someone and, more figuratively, for a look or tone that silently lays blame.

How the word is built

• ac- (variant of ad-, toward)
• cus (from Latin causa: cause, legal case)
• -ing (present participle / adjective suffix)