Meaning & use
alleged victim
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Meanings
nouncountablelegallaw
A person who is said to have suffered a crime or harm, though this has not yet been proved in court.
Grammar: Countable: say 'an alleged victim' or 'two alleged victims'; the adjective 'alleged' always comes before the noun.
Patterns
- an alleged victim of something
- the alleged victim in a case
- police named the alleged victim
The newspaper did not print the name of the alleged victim.
Police interviewed the alleged victim for several hours.
She is the alleged victim of a fraud that cost millions.
nouncountableformal
Someone described in a report or rumor as having been harmed, without any official decision.
Grammar: Often used in journalism when the facts are still unclear or disputed.
Patterns
- be described as an alleged victim
- report an alleged victim
The report listed him as an alleged victim of the attack, but he denies being there.
Several alleged victims have come forward since the story appeared.
Word forms
| plural | alleged victims |
|---|
Common combinations
- an alleged victim of abuse
- The charity supports alleged victims of abuse while their cases are investigated.
- the alleged victim's family
- The alleged victim's family asked for privacy.
- identify an alleged victim
- Officers would not identify the alleged victim to the press.
- an alleged victim in the case
- There are three alleged victims in the case.
- alleged victim testimony
- The judge allowed the alleged victim testimony to be read aloud.
Synonyms and how they differ
- complainant
- A legal term for the person who makes the complaint; it is more neutral and is used mainly in court settings.
- accuser
- Focuses on the person making the accusation rather than on the harm suffered.
Word family
- allege verb
- To state that something is true or that someone did something, without proof.
- allegedly adverb
- According to what people say but without proof: 'He allegedly took the money.'
- allegation noun
- A claim that someone has done something wrong, not yet proved.
Commonly confused: alleged victim or victim? alleged victim or suspect?
alleged victim vs victim
'Victim' alone states as fact that harm happened; 'alleged victim' keeps the claim unproved, which matters in legal and news writing.
alleged victim vs suspect
A suspect is the person believed to have committed the crime; an alleged victim is the person said to have suffered it.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'alleged victim' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Alleged' is an adjective that goes before the noun 'victim', so option An is correct. The other options break the word order or treat 'alleged' as a noun or preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “alleged victim”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.