TOP

Definition of indictment noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

indictment

noun
 
/ɪnˈdaɪtmənt/
 
/ɪnˈdaɪtmənt/
jump to other results
  1. [countable, usually singular] indictment (of/on somebody/something) a sign that a system, society, etc. is very bad or very wrong
    • The poverty in our cities is a damning indictment of modern society.
    • This research is a terrible indictment on the medical profession.
    Extra Examples
    • Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime.
    • This is a rather too sweeping indictment of the field of evolutionary psychology.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • devastating
    • powerful
    • damning
    See full entry
  2. [countable] (especially North American English) an official statement accusing somebody of a crime
    • She was convicted on an indictment for conspiracy.
    • The federal district court dismissed the indictment.
    • The government announced a federal indictment against him.
    • They issued an indictment against them.
    • Two men were named in the indictment.
    • War crimes indictments were handed down by a UN-backed court.
    • an indictment charging theft
    • There is sufficient evidence against him to support an indictment for murder.
    Topics Law and justicec2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • criminal
    • felony
    • federal
    verb + indictment
    • bring
    • file
    • issue
    indictment + verb
    • accuse somebody of something
    • allege something
    • charge (somebody/​something with something)
    preposition
    • in a/​the indictment
    • on indictment
    • indictment against
    See full entry
  3. [uncountable] (especially North American English) the act of officially accusing somebody of a crime
    • This led to his indictment on allegations of conspiracy.
    • He faces indictment for perjury.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • criminal
    • felony
    • federal
    verb + indictment
    • bring
    • file
    • issue
    indictment + verb
    • accuse somebody of something
    • allege something
    • charge (somebody/​something with something)
    preposition
    • in a/​the indictment
    • on indictment
    • indictment against
    See full entry
  4. Word OriginMiddle English enditement, inditement, from Anglo-Norman French enditement, from enditer, based on Latin indicere ‘proclaim, appoint’, from in- ‘towards’ + dicere ‘pronounce, utter’.
See indictment in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
trait
noun
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 5000
B2
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day