exonerate
Americanverb (used with object)
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exonerates,
present (3rd person singular)
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exonerated,
past participle, past
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exonerating
present participle
verb
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to clear or absolve from blame or a criminal charge
-
to relieve from an obligation or task; exempt
Synonym Usage
See absolve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exoneratesimple
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exoneratessimple
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have exoneratedperfect
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has exoneratedperfect
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am exoneratingprogressive
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are exoneratingprogressive
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is exoneratingprogressive
-
have been exoneratingperfect progressive
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has been exoneratingperfect progressive
Past
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exoneratedsimple
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had exoneratedperfect
-
was exoneratingprogressive
-
were exoneratingprogressive
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had been exoneratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exonerate
First recorded in 1515–25; late Middle English, from Latin exonerātus (past participle of exonerāre “to unburden, discharge”), equivalent to ex- “out of, from; thoroughly” + oner- (stem of onus ) “a burden” + -ātus past participle suffix; see ex- 1, -ate 1
Explanation
To exonerate someone is to declare him not guilty of criminal charges. This word is pretty much only used in reference to proceedings in a court of law. A word with a similar meaning that might be familiar is “acquit.” When your next door neighbor was arrested for painting smiley faces on the front doors of all the houses on your block, evidence to exonerate him was discovered when the police found a young hooligan from the next street over with a basement full of paint canisters. The verb comes from the Latin exonerat-, meaning “freed from burden.” A criminal charge is certainly a burden, and when you're exonerated, you're freed from that burden.
Vocabulary lists containing exonerate
100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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Great Expectations
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Just Mercy
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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.
See Examples For:
Federal officials stressed that this did not suddenly exonerate the lettuce.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
These numbers exonerate this summer’s usual suspects of the long-run crime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
"We must not exonerate from all responsibility the seven decades that followed independence," he told the magazine, calling on African leaders to improve governance.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Sapna also questioned why it took four years to exonerate Sougat when his DNA sample did not match the profile found at the crime scene.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
“All you have to do is come up with a lie that will exonerate both Christina and Cara, and then tell it under truth serum.”
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
An Oklahoma judge exonerates a man who spent nearly 50 years in prison on murder charges, the longest serving inmate to be declared innocent of the crime.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
While this story might be basically accurate, I don’t think it exonerates SBF the way he seems to think it does.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2023
“A lot of people think that exonerates him from consequences, but I don’t think so,” she said, adding that she is opposed to his release from prison.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2022
"We appreciate that the report exonerates Mr. Baldwin by making clear that he believed the gun held only dummy rounds," the statement posted on Baldwin's Instagram account said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 21, 2022
I can think of no answer that exonerates me.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
But now, authorities have officially exonerated him — acknowledging his innocence in the 1998 Fullerton heist that robbed him of nearly two decades of his life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Only once before has an executed person been exonerated posthumously by a state entity.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
These include cases in which the men were exonerated through DNA or blood evidence and others in which police are accused of fabricating evidence.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
It pointed to a recent decision by the High Court in London that largely exonerated Renault and four other carmakers from charges that the devices were designed to cheat clean air laws.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
In 1998, Walter and I were asked to go to Chicago to attend a national conference where exonerated former death row prisoners were planning to gather.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Only in 1906, after many twists, did the high court of appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus.
From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025
“We have already uncovered exonerating evidence and this case will be dismissed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2025
They complained that taking a statement from Pycroft when he was still under the "shadow of prosecution for murder" meant he had a "powerful incentive" to give an account "implicating" Hutchinson and "exonerating himself".
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2024
On Thursday, Prado said he would have recommended exonerating Pargas because the acting police chief responded to the crisis correctly based on the division of responsibility between the city and school district.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2024
She repeated her sad story precisely as she had done before, entirely exonerating the bandit chief and throwing the whole weight of the crime upon the shoulders of the Viscount Massetti.
From Monte-Cristo's Daughter by Edmund Flagg
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.
