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
-
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
Related Words
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
- innocently adverb
- quasi-innocent adjective
- quasi-innocently adverb
- superinnocent adjective
- superinnocently adverb
- uninnocent adjective
- uninnocently adverb
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”; -ent; noxious
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.
Inexplicable, indeed, to a justice like Sotomayor, who cannot bear the thought of executing the innocent.
From Slate • Mar. 27, 2026
The mood stood in stark contrast to their first court appearance, when Maduro gave a speech lasting several minutes claiming he had been kidnapped and was innocent.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
“I did it because I didn’t know any better. I ended up with this innocent energy. It came out of me looser that way, the feeling just flew out of me.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
Had Sony prevailed, Cox might have had to terminate internet access for many innocent users to protect itself from lawsuits.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
Jefferson’s initial draft of the Declaration of Independence had included language that described the slave trade as the perverse plot of an evil English monarch designed to contaminate innocent colonists.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
