j'accuse

/ʒəˈkjuːz/

noun

An accusation, especially one made publicly.

Similar
indictmenttiradeadmonitioncondemnationdiatribedithyrambharangueimpugnation
OriginFrench J'Accuse →
First used 19th c.
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounj'accuse (plural j'accuses)

plural j'accuses

  1. An accusation, especially one made publicly.First known use 19th c.

    Buried within Dudley's petition, then, was a veiled ‘j'accuse’.

    2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 369
    2 more examples

    It was a rare combination of circumstances that led Cramer to agree to sit still and listen to Stewart engage in his j'accuse.

    2009, Jack Balkin, The Guardian (online), 17 Mar 2009

    In his j’accuse, Mattis excoriates the president for setting Americans against one another.

    2020 June 3, Jeffrey Goldberg, “James Mattis Denounces President Trump”, in The Atlantic

    Synonyms: indictment, tirade, admonition, condemnation, diatribe, dithyramb, harangue, impugnation

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn accusation, especially one made publicly.

Similar
indictmenttiradeadmonitioncondemnationdiatribedithyrambharangueimpugnationjeremiadphilippicpolemicrantscreedslanging matchtirade
Also see
diatribedithyrambharanguejeremiadphilippicscreedtirade

Origin

  1. FrenchJ'Accuse
  2. Englishj'accuse

Borrowing from French J'Accuse ("I accuse"), the title of an 1898 open letter from writer Emile Zola to the president of France during the Dreyfus Affair.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with j'accuse

newsusechoosewhoseabusecruiselosebluesdosCruzHughesrefuseexcusereuseduesmusefusecrewsmisuseToulousegusdiffuseconfusebooze
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

j'accuse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/j'accuse

MLA

“j'accuse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/j'accuse. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “j'accuse,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/j'accuse.

Source: j'accuse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.