innocent Hear it!

innocent Definition

in·no·cent (in′ə sənt)

adjective

  1. free from sin, evil, or guilt; specif.,
    1. doing or thinking nothing morally wrong; pure
    2. not guilty of a specific crime or offense; guiltless
    3. free from harmful effect or cause; that does not harm, injure, or corrupt
    4. not malignant; benign an innocent tumor
    1. knowing no evil
    2. without guile or cunning; artless; simple
    3. naive
    4. ignorant
  3. totally lacking: with of innocent of adornment

Etymology: OFr < L innocens < in-, not + nocens, prp. of nocere, to do wrong to: see necro-

noun

  1. a person knowing no evil or sin, such as a child
  2. a very naive or simple-minded person

innocent Related Forms
in′·no·cently adverb
Innocent Definition

In·no·cent (in′ə sənt)

  1. (died 417); pope (401-417): his day is July 28

  2. (born Gregorio Papareschi) died 1143; pope (1130-43)

  3. (born Lotario de' Conti de' Segni) 1161?-1216; pope (1198-1216)

  4. (born Sinibaldo de' Fieschi) died 1254; pope (1243-54)

  5. (born Benedetto Odeschalchi) 1611-89; pope (1676-89)

innocent Synonyms

innocent

modif.

  1. Not guilty

    guiltless, blameless, inculpable, impeccable, faultless, unoffending, free of, uninvolved, honest, above suspicion, clean*, in the clear*; see also reliable 1, upright 2.

    Antonyms guilty*, culpable*, blameworthy. *

  2. Without guile

    open, ingenuous, fresh, guileless; see childish 1, frank, naive, natural 3.

  3. Inexperienced

    youthful, raw, green*; see inexperienced, young 2.

  4. Morally pure

    sinless, unblemished, pure, unsullied, undefiled, spotless, wholesome, upright, unimpeachable, clean, virtuous, chaste, virginal, immaculate, impeccable, righteous, uncorrupted, irreproachable, unstained, stainless, unspotted, incorrupt, moral, angelic, squeaky-clean*; see also chaste 2, 3, perfect 2.

    Antonyms sinful, corrupt, dissolute.

  5. Harmless

    innocuous, inoffensive, safe, benign; see harmless 2.

innocent Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • slaughter: The ribbon is red and white - supposedly, red for the blood spilled and white for the innocents slaughtered.
  • kill: The fact is his terrorist resistance achieved nothing except killing innocents.

Preposition: as

  • dove: Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

Modifies a noun

  • civilian: The killing of innocent civilians is the issue here.
  • bystander: More likely the remote systems are innocent bystanders who were compromised.
  • victim: I wouldn't want to become an innocent victim of your killing spree!
  • passer-by: Other rules & stuff: There will be penalties for killing people other than your target, or innocent passers-by.
  • Iraqi: Can you at least hope for what's best for innocent Iraqis now?
  • citizen: Innocent citizens are locked up for their own beliefs.

Modifying Another Word

  • seemingly: These two lines are seemingly innocent talk about viewing houses.
  • perfectly: Often data can diverge from Benford's Law for perfectly innocent reasons.
  • entirely: De Menezes was an entirely innocent civilian going about his everyday business.

Used with adjective complement

  • presume: Additionally, specific rights given to people being prosecuted for a criminal charge include: The right to be presumed innocent.
  • plead: Would you prefer people to lie and plead innocent?
  • prove: If he's proved innocent, they will say you helped to collar him.
  • declare: He was declared innocent of any crimes by the court.
  • seem: It was a personal turning point for me, where the whole world suddenly seemed less innocent.

Preposition: of

  • wrongdoing: Most men, usually innocent of substantive wrongdoing, find themselves legally defenseless against the destruction of the fabric of their lives.
  • crime: He was declared innocent of any crimes by the court.
  • charge: Gaia gets her revenge in even when CFCs are innocent of the charges.
innocent Quotes

But who is innocent? By grace divine, Not otherwise,O Nature! we are thine.

—Wordsworth,William

The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives forever.

—Updike,John Hoyer

   Saints should always be judged guilty until theyare proved innocent.

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair

And the wild boys innocent as strawberries.

—Thomas, Dylan Marlais

I am innocent of the charge, and nothing you will say however clever you are in the wording of out-of-context pieces, however clever you are in letting people know what 'on and off the record'means, there is only one thing that mattersinthis court of law, sir: Ihavenever had sexual intercourse with her. And that is the truth!

—Archer,Jeffrey Howard, Lord

It is better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer.

—Blackstone, Sir William

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,ö My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. See Horace 413:23.

—Owen,Wilfred

The innocent and the beautiful Have no enemy but time.

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

I do not like subversion or disloyalty in any form and if I had ever seen any I would have considered it my duty to have reported it to the proper authorities.But to hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in order to save myself is to me inhuman and indecent and dishonorable.

—Hellman, Lillian Florence