j'accuse
English
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.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʒəˈkjuːz/
- Rhymes: -uːz
Noun
j'accuse (plural j'accuses)
- An accusation, especially one made publicly. [from 19th c.]
- Synonyms: indictment, tirade; see also Thesaurus:diatribe
- 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’.
- 2020 June 3, Jeffrey Goldberg, “James Mattis Denounces President Trump”, in The Atlantic:
- In his j’accuse, Mattis excoriates the president for setting Americans against one another.
Usage notes
As it is a loanword and not naturalized in English, j'accuse is typically italicized in print.
Related terms
- accusation
- accuse
- accuser