innocent
Americanadjective
-
free from moral wrong; without sin; pure.
innocent children.
- Synonyms:
- immaculate, spotless, impeccable, faultless, virtuous, sinless
- Antonyms:
- guilty
-
free from legal or specific wrong; guiltless.
innocent of the crime.
- Antonyms:
- guilty
-
not involving evil intent or motive.
an innocent misrepresentation.
-
not causing physical or moral injury; harmless.
innocent fun.
-
devoid (usually followed byof ).
a law innocent of merit.
-
having or showing the simplicity or naiveté of an unworldly person; guileless; ingenuous.
- Synonyms:
- artless, unsophisticated, naive, simple
-
uninformed or unaware; ignorant.
noun
-
innocents
plural
-
an innocent person.
-
a young child.
-
a guileless person.
-
a simpleton or idiot.
-
(used with a singular verb) Usually innocents. bluet.
adjective
-
not corrupted or tainted with evil or unpleasant emotion; sinless; pure
-
not guilty of a particular crime; blameless
-
free (of); lacking
innocent of all knowledge of history
-
-
harmless or innocuous
an innocent game
-
not cancerous
an innocent tumour
-
-
credulous, naive, or artless
-
simple-minded; slow-witted
noun
-
an innocent person, esp a young child or an ingenuous adult
-
a simple-minded person; simpleton
Synonym Usage
Innocent, blameless, guiltless imply freedom from the responsibility of having done wrong. Innocent may imply having done no wrong at any time, and having not even a knowledge of evil: an innocent victim. Blameless denotes freedom from blame, especially moral blame: a blameless life. Guiltless denotes freedom from guilt or responsibility for wrongdoing, usually in a particular instance: guiltless of a crime.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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quasi-innocentadjective
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superinnocentadjective
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uninnocentadjective
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innocentlyadverb
-
quasi-innocentlyadverb
-
superinnocentlyadverb
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uninnocentlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of innocent
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English, from Latin innocent- (stem of innocēns ) “harmless,” equivalent to in- in- 3 + nocēns present participle of nocēre “to harm”; see -ent; cf. noxious
Explanation
You may think your fluffy white cat is just an innocent, or harmless, little kitty, but she shows no mercy when attacking that toy mouse. Innocent is an adjective that describes someone or something that is not harmful or at least doesn’t cause harm on purpose. It can also be used when talking about a person who did not commit a crime. “Innocent until proven guilty” is a phrase that means people who have been accused of a crime should be considered innocent, or free of blame, unless a judge or jury decides that they are officially guilty.
Vocabulary lists containing innocent
Anti-Antonyms: Words Without Opposites
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"The Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
Former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis told the BBC the innocent traders had been the victims of a series of miscarriages of justice.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
For White, who opened an account on the platform during high school, "it seemed innocent enough, I guess, at the time."
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The setup implies that Carrie—intellectually curious, a clandestine book reader, a guileless innocent for whom Ms. Howell makes us ache—is being liberated from Margaret’s fundamentalist penal colony.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The company didn’t formally admit to the charges in these cases, but one would have to be hopelessly naive to think that means it’s innocent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
“There’s got to be an innocent explanation,” I say.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
"This land has paid a heavy price. It has seen many of its children buried. It has borne witness to the suffering of children and innocents," added the leader of the world's Roman Catholics.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
The film’s sheep are complete innocents, who can make themselves forget sad events by closing their eyes and counting to three.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
It’s unfortunate that innocents are being swept up in mass immigration raids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025
It also asked police to stop harassing innocents.
From BBC ● May 28, 2025
GINNY: That’s what they’re good at, Albus—catching innocents in their web.
From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling
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.
