Meaning & use
indict
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Meaning
verbtransitivelegallaw
To formally charge someone with a serious crime, usually after a legal process such as a grand jury review.
Grammar: Takes an object: indict someone for a crime. Often used in passive: be indicted for something.
Patterns
- indict someone for something
- indict someone on charges
- be indicted for something
The grand jury voted to indict the businessman for fraud.
He was indicted on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion.
The prosecutor plans to indict several officials involved in the scandal.
Word forms
| third person singular | indicts |
|---|---|
| past tense | indicted |
| past participle | indicted |
| -ing form | indicting |
Common combinations
- indict someone for a crime
- The jury indicted him for murder.
- indict someone on charges
- She was indicted on charges of corruption.
- be indicted by a grand jury
- The suspect was indicted by a grand jury last week.
- indict someone for fraud
- The CEO was indicted for fraud after the investigation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- charge
- Charge is a general word for accusing someone of a crime, while indict specifically refers to a formal legal process, often by a grand jury.
- accuse
- Accuse is broader and can be used in everyday contexts, whereas indict is a formal legal term.
- prosecute
- Prosecute means to conduct legal proceedings against someone, which may follow an indictment, but it is not the same as the formal charging step.
Opposites
Word family
- indictment noun
- A formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.
Commonly confused: indict or indite?
indict vs indite
Indite is a rare word meaning to write or compose, and it is pronounced the same as indict. In modern English, indict is the common word.
Practice
The district attorney decided to ______ the suspect for perjury after new evidence emerged.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs the base form of the verb after 'to': indict. Indictment is a noun, and indicted is the past tense, which would not follow 'to'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “indict”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.