j'accuse

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English

Etymology

Borrowing from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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.

Pronunciation

Noun

j'accuse (plural j'accuses)

  1. An accusation, especially one made publicly. [from 19th c.]
    • 2009, Jack Balkin, The Guardian (online), 17 Mar 2009:
      It was a rare combination of circumstances that led Cramer to agree to sit still and listen to Stewart engage in his j'accuse.
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 369:
      Buried within Dudley's petition, then, was a veiled ‘j'accuse’.

Usage notes

As it is a loanword and not naturalized in English, j'accuse is typically italicized in print.

Synonyms

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