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.
“Both have really acquitted themselves well, and the next piece is in the games and how they play,” coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Both have really acquitted themselves well,” Harbaugh said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Knox, from the US, was convicted and later acquitted of murdering British student Meredith in Italy in 2007.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The pair spent almost four years in prison before they were acquitted on appeal in 2011.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Entitled “To Friends ofjustice and Human Rights,” it described Claudette’s arrest and demanded that she be acquitted of charges.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
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.
