innocent

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈɪnəsənt/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈɪnəsənt/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(in′ə sənt)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
in•no•cent /ˈɪnəsənt/USA pronunciation   adj. 
  1. free from moral wrong;
    without sin;
    pure:the innocent children.
  2. free from legal wrong;
    guiltless:innocent until proven guilty.
  3. not involving evil intent or motive;
    harmless:an innocent mistake.
  4. showing the simplicity of someone not accustomed to recognizing evil;
    ingenuous:gave her father a wide-eyed, innocent look.

n. [countable]
  1. an innocent person, esp. one who has the simplicity of not recognizing evil.
in•no•cent•ly, adv. See -noc-, -nox-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
in•no•cent  (in′ə sənt),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. free from moral wrong;
    without sin;
    pure:innocent children.
  2. free from legal or specific wrong;
    guiltless:innocent of the crime.
  3. not involving evil intent or motive:an innocent misrepresentation.
  4. not causing physical or moral injury;
    harmless:innocent fun.
  5. devoid (usually fol. by of ):a law innocent of merit.
  6. having or showing the simplicity or naiveté of an unworldly person;
    guileless;
    ingenuous.
  7. uninformed or unaware;
    ignorant.

n. 
  1. an innocent person.
  2. a young child.
  3. a guileless person.
  4. a simpleton or idiot.
  5. Plant BiologyUsually, innocents. (used with a sing. v.) bluet (def. 1).
  • Latin innocent- (stem of innocēns) harmless, equivalent. to in- in-3 + nocēns present participle of nocēre to harm; see -ent; compare noxious
  • Middle English 1150–1200
in′no•cent•ly, adv. 
    1. sinless, virtuous; faultless, impeccable, spotless, immaculate. 2. 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, esp. moral blame:a blameless life.Guiltless denotes freedom from guilt or responsibility for wrongdoing, usually in a particular instance:guiltless of a crime. 6. simple, naive, unsophisticated, artless.
    1. 2. guilty.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
innocent /ˈɪnəsənt/ adj
  1. not corrupted or tainted with evil or unpleasant emotion; sinless; pure
  2. not guilty of a particular crime; blameless
  3. (postpositive) followed by of: free (of); lacking: innocent of all knowledge of history
    • harmless or innocuous: an innocent game
    • not cancerous: an innocent tumour
  5. credulous, naive, or artless
  6. archaic or dialect lacking intelligence
 n
  1. an innocent person, esp a young child or an ingenuous adult
  2. a person who lacks wisdom or common sense
ˈinnocently adv
'innocent' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
blameless - butter - cherub - childlike - clean - doubt - dove - golden age - guiltless - ingénue - ingenuous - innocence - Innocent II - Innocent III - Innocent IV - involve - lamb - Langton - McEwan - ninny - plant - purely - sinless - sophisticate - take out - wide-eyed - Arcadian - babe - bless - boyish - cherry - choirboy - clear - contrary - cousin - criminal - dewy-eyed - disloyalty - follow - frame - frame-up - gullible - harmless - Honest John - ingenious - Innocent I - Innocent V - Innocent VI - Innocent VII - Innocent VIII
Collocations: is innocent of the [crime, murder], was found innocent [at trial, by the jury], found innocent of all [crimes, wrongdoings], more...

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