English Explanatory Dictionary

innocent

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
  2. Bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act.
  3. Without wrongful intent; accidental or in good faith.
  4. Naive; artless.
  5. Not harmful; innocuous; harmless; benign.
  6. Lacking (something), or knowledge of it.
  7. Lawful; permitted.
  8. Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture.
noun
  1. One who is innocent, especially a young child.
  2. A harmless simple-minded person; an idiot.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/ˈɪnəsənt/ en-us-innocent.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-innocent.wav

Word forms

innocent more innocent most innocent hinnocent innocents

Etymology

From Middle English innocent, from Old French innocent, inocent, borrowed from Latin innocēns (“harmless, inoffensive”), from in- (“not”) + nocēns, present participle of noceō (“to hurt”). By surface analysis, in- (“not”) + nocent (“harmful; guilty”). Displaced native Old English unsċyldiġ.

Synonyms

blameless clean clean-handed clean as a hound's tooth clean as a whistle clear dovelike guiltless innocent innocent as the babe unborn innocent as the child unborn irreprehensible nonblameworthy not guilty offenseless pure righteous sackless sinless unblameable unblameworthy uncalculating unguilty untainted ingenuous unworldly artless callow childlike verdant clueless credulous dewy-eyed cute fleeceable foppotee green guileless jejune Panglossian Panglossic quaint simple simple-hearted simple-minded starry-eyed unaffected undesigning unpretentious unsophisticated untested wide-eyed immature born yesterday wet behind the ears virgin

Antonyms

blameworthy guilty nocent perverse

Related words

innocence innocently innocuous praiseworthy

Derived words

innocent agent innocent as a lamb innocent as a newborn babe innocent as the babe unborn innocent as the child unborn innocent bystander innocentness innocent passage noninnocent pseudoinnocent uninnocent

Translations

Azerbaijani: məsum Bulgarian: безвреден Bulgarian: доброкачествен Catalan: innocent Finnish: viaton Finnish: harmiton Galician: inocente Ancient Greek: ἀβλαβής Latvian: nevainīgs Portuguese: inocente Russian: неви́нный Ottoman Turkish: ضررسز Ottoman Turkish: زیانسز Walloon: enocin Welsh: diniwed
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