sue

S1U1E1
/sjuː/Wales/sɪu̯//suː//ʃuː/

verb

To file a legal action against someone, generally a non-criminal (civil) action.

“to sue a ship”

Similar
impleadMary Sueactionlitigateprocess
OriginMiddle English seuen ← Anglo-Norman suer ← Old French sivre →
CommonScrabble 3
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Meanings

sue1

verbsue (third-person singular simple present sues, present participle suing, simple past and past participle sued)

present singular third person sues · participle present suing · participle past sued · past sued

  1. transitiveTo file a legal action against someone, generally a non-criminal (civil) action.

    sue someone for selling a faulty product

    2 more examples

    I plan to sue you for everything you have.

    He was sued by the late Geo. Walpole Leake for slander, and after two trials, occupying eight days, he was mulcted in heavy damages and costs.

    1897, Warren Bert Kimberly, “W. Horgan”, in History of West Australia

    Synonyms: implead

  2. ambitransitiveTo seek by request; to make application; to petition; to entreat; to plead.

    The king of Bimsa sued for peace after Nynal's armies overran his territory; he knew any further resistance would only harm the common people.

  3. transitivefalconryTo clean (the beak, etc.).
  4. transitivenauticalTo leave high and dry on shore.

    to sue a ship

  5. obsoletetransitiveTo court.
  6. obsoletetransitiveTo follow.

    And the olde knyght seyde unto the yonge knyght, ‘Sir, swith me.’

    And the old knight said to the young knight, 'Sir, follow me'.

    1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum iv”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XIII, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC
    1 more example

    though oft looking backward, well she vewd, / Her selfe freed from that foster insolent, / And that it was a knight, which now her sewd, / Yet she no lesse the knight feard, then that villein rude.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Sue2

proper nounSue (plural Sues)

plural Sues · alternative Su

  1. A diminutive of the female given name Susan and of related female given names; popular as a middle name.

    For the last decade at least, the trend seems to be that more untraditional names are being chosen over the Bobs, the Toms, the Sues and the Marys.

    2009 April 25, “Meet Number 16 Bus Shelter”, in Austin Daily Herald, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2025
nounSue (plural Sues)

plural Sues · alternative Su

  1. informalSynonym of Mary Sue (“type of character in fiction”).

    Synonyms: Mary Sue

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo file a legal action against someone, generally a non-criminal (civil) action.

Similar
implead

nounSynonym of Mary Sue (“type of character in fiction”).

Similar
Mary Sue

More synonyms by meaning

verbinstitute legal proceedings against; file a suit against

Similar
actionlitigateprocess
Broader
challenge
Also see
actionbeglitigatemary sueprocess

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

sue · verb

  1. Latinsequi
  2. Vulgar Latin*sequere“to follow”
  3. Old Frenchsivre“to follow after”
  4. Anglo-Normansuer
  5. Middle Englishseuen
  6. Englishsue

From Middle English seuen, sewen, siwen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suer, siwer et al. and Old French sivre (“to follow after”) (modern French suivre), from Vulgar Latin *sequere (“to follow”), from Latin sequi. Cognate with Italian seguire and Spanish seguir. Doublet of segue. Related to suit.

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Sue · proper noun, noun

Clipping.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic قَاضَى, أَََقَامَ دَعْوًى
  • قَاضَى (qāḍā)to file a legal action
  • أَََقَامَ دَعْوًى (ʔaaaqāma daʕwan)to file a legal action
Bulgarian завеждам дело
  • завеждам дело (zaveždam delo)to file a legal action
Chinese Mandarin 起訴 /起诉, 蘇 /苏
  • 起訴 /起诉 (qǐsù)to file a legal action
  • 蘇 /苏 (Sū)diminutive of female given name
Czech žalovat
  • žalovatto file a legal action
Danish lægge sag an, sagsøge
  • lægge sag anto file a legal action
  • sagsøgeto file a legal action
  • stævneto file a legal action
Dutch aanklagen
  • aanklagento file a legal action
Esperanto persekuti, Sunjo
  • persekutito file a legal action
  • Sunjodiminutive of female given name
Finnish nostaa kanne, haastaa oikeuteen
  • nostaa kanneto file a legal action
  • haastaa oikeuteento file a legal action
French poursuivre en justice, intenter un procès à
  • poursuivre en justiceto file a legal action
  • intenter un procès àto file a legal action
German verklagen, klagen
  • verklagento file a legal action
  • klagento file a legal action
Greek μηνύω
  • μηνύω (minýo)to file a legal action
Hebrew תבע
  • תבע (tavá)to file a legal action
Hungarian beperel, perel
  • beperelto file a legal action
  • perelto file a legal action
  • perbe fogto file a legal action
Icelandic lögsækja
  • lögsækjato file a legal action
Indonesian menuntut
  • menuntutto file a legal action
Irish agair
  • agairto file a legal action
Italian fare causa, citare in giudizio
  • fare causato file a legal action
  • citare in giudizioto file a legal action
Japanese 訴える, スー
  • 訴える (uttaeru)to file a legal action
  • スー (Sū)diminutive of female given name
Korean 고소하다, 수
  • 고소하다 (gosohada)to file a legal action
  • 수 (Su)diminutive of female given name
Latin lītigō, lītem inferō
  • lītigōto file a legal action
  • lītem inferōto file a legal action
Norwegian Bokmål saksøke
  • saksøketo file a legal action
Polish pozywać, pozwać
  • pozywaćto file a legal action
  • pozwaćto file a legal action
Portuguese processar, demandar
  • processarto file a legal action
  • demandarto file a legal action
Romanian da în judecată
  • da în judecatăto file a legal action
Russian подава́ть в суд, предъявля́ть иск
  • подава́ть в суд (podavátʹ v sud)to file a legal action
  • предъявля́ть иск (predʺjavljátʹ isk)to file a legal action
  • суди́ться (sudítʹsja)to file a legal action
  • Сью (Sʹju)diminutive of female given name
Scottish Gaelic tagair
  • tagairto file a legal action
Spanish demandar, querellarse
  • demandarto file a legal action
  • querellarseto file a legal action
  • pleitearto file a legal action
Swedish stämma, lagföra
  • stämmato file a legal action
  • lagförato file a legal action
Tagalog hablahin, maghabla
  • hablahinto file a legal action
  • maghablato file a legal action
  • idemandato file a legal action
  • magdemandato file a legal action
Thai ฟ้อง, ฟ้องร้อง
  • ฟ้อง (fɔ́ɔng)to file a legal action
  • ฟ้องร้อง (fɔ́ɔng-rɔ́ɔng)to file a legal action
Turkish mahkemeye vermek
  • mahkemeye vermekto file a legal action
Vietnamese thưa kiện, kiện
  • thưa kiệnto file a legal action
  • kiệnto file a legal action
Welsh Siw
  • Siwdiminutive of female given name

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with sue

younewdowhoviewtwothroughreviewutooqfewbluefaqduetruecontinuegnuquesushoeCPUvenuePeru
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

SiouxsouSuSue (yod-dropping)shoeshoo (yod-coalescence)souSusue (yod-dropping)souSusue (yod-dropping)

Anagrams

use
Cite this entry
APA

sue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sue

MLA

“sue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sue. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sue,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sue.

Source: sue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.