accuse
v.v. to say that you believe someone has done something wrong or broken a law. You use this when you want to point out a person's mistake or a crime they might have committed.
v. to charge someone with a fault, offense, or crime. Transitive; requires a direct object and typically takes a prepositional phrase to specify the charge.
They accuse him of stealing the money.
The manager did not want to accuse the employee of theft without having clear video evidence.
While the prosecution did not formally accuse the defendant of conspiracy, their opening statement strongly implied that he had not acted alone during the robbery.
First attested around 1300. From Middle English acusen, from Old French acuser, from Latin accūsō (“to call to account, accuse”), from ad (“to”) + causa (“cause, lawsuit, reason”). Akin to cause. Displaced native English bewray.
The verb is transitive and almost always takes the preposition 'of' before the noun describing the crime or fault.
they accuse him for stealingthey accuse him of stealingAccuse takes the preposition 'of' to indicate the crime, not 'for'.