Learn English – “Accuse as” in comparison to “accuse of”

meaningprepositions

I stumbled upon this sentence:

I accuse myself and others as having been irrational in the way we have been using statistics on a key notion of rationality.

Is there a difference in meaning/usage between "accuse X as" and "accuse X of"? Are they used in different contexts? Intuitively I prefer "accuse X of" every time.

Best Answer

You usually accuse [someone] of [some act of wrongdoing] (e.g. "I accuse him of bigamy").

Less commonly, you can accuse [someone] as [some type of wrongdoer], a form which often involves the passive voice, in conjunction with "stand" (e.g. "He stands accused as a bigamist").

Thus in OP's example, where having been irrational is a transgression/wrongdoing, the correct preposition is "of".

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