nocent
Americanadjective
-
harmful; injurious.
nocent chemical waste and other toxins.
-
guilty; not innocent.
Etymology
Origin of nocent
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin nocent-, stem of nocēns, present participle of nocēre “to harm, injure”; -ent
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.
Light stripes may suffice for quelling the less nocent dunces.
From Project Gutenberg
"It will clearly appear," he said, "where the guilt will lie if innocent persons should come to suffer with the nocent."
From Project Gutenberg
He divides his treatise into "bad and nocent books; bad books but not nocent; books not bad, but nocent; books neither bad nor nocent."
From Project Gutenberg
The judges, who were Englishmen, declared in their first session that 168 were innocent to 19 nocent.
From Project Gutenberg
All plants, phanerogams or cryptogams, can be divided into nocent or innocent, etc., etc.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
