Dictionary

j'accuse en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ʒəˈkjuːz/

Etymology

Borrowing from 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.

Meanings

1. An accusation, especially one made publicly.
   • Buried within Dudley's petition, then, was a veiled ‘j'accuse’. 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 369:
   • It was a rare combination of circumstances that led Cramer to agree to sit still and listen to Stewart engage in his j'accuse. 2009, Jack Balkin, The Guardian (online), 17 Mar 2009
   • In his j’accuse, Mattis excoriates the president for setting Americans against one another. 2020 June 3, Jeffrey Goldberg, “James Mattis Denounces President Trump”, in The Atlantic:

Forms

Relateds

accuser · accuse · accusation

Synonyms

polemic · tirade · admonition · impugnation · condemnation · diatribe · dithyramb · slanging match · screed · harangue · rant · indictment · j'accuse · jeremiad · tirade · philippic

wikipedia: Emile Zola · wikipedia: J'Accuse…! · wikipedia: Dreyfus Affair