acquitted
Americanadjective
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of acquitted
Explanation
An acquitted defendant is off the hook. If you're on trial for a crime and you're found "not guilty," then you're acquitted and you can go free. When you have been labeled acquitted, that means the jury has found you not guilty of the crime and legally blameless. The word gained notoriety in the highly publicized 1995 trial of the former football star O. J. Simpson, accused of murdering his wife and her friend. Simpson’s attorney’s mantra to the jury was "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit," referring to a glove connected to the murder.
Vocabulary lists containing acquitted
The Outsiders
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This Week In Words: September 28–October 4, 2019
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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Eventually an all-white jury acquitted Henry Sweet; charges against the others were dropped.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
A month after Simpson was acquitted, Trump went on The Howard Stern Show and said he was likely framed.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
Netflix has announced a new three-part docuseries that will revisit the 2005 trial in which Michael Jackson was acquitted on charges of child molestation.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
A fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, was discharged and acquitted by the court due to insufficient evidence against him.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
The other two were acquitted of all charges.
From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
