Meaning & use
incriminating
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableformallegal
Showing, or seeming to show, that someone has done something wrong or illegal.
Grammar: Usually before a noun: incriminating evidence.
Patterns
- incriminating evidence
- incriminating to someone
Police found incriminating evidence in the suspect's car.
She deleted the incriminating messages before the audit.
The photograph was incriminating, even if it proved nothing alone.
adjectivecomparablehumorous
Causing someone to appear guilty of a fault or embarrassing behavior, even in a minor matter.
Grammar: Used playfully for small things: an incriminating crumb.
Patterns
- an incriminating look
The chocolate on his chin was incriminating.
Her incriminating silence told us she had eaten the cake.
An incriminating text from my brother gave the surprise away.
Word forms
| comparative | more incriminating |
|---|---|
| superlative | most incriminating |
Common combinations
- incriminating evidence
- The detective collected incriminating evidence from the scene.
- incriminating documents
- Incriminating documents were found in the safe.
- an incriminating statement
- He refused to make an incriminating statement without a lawyer.
- highly incriminating
- The recording was highly incriminating.
- incriminating photograph
- An incriminating photograph surfaced online.
Synonyms and how they differ
- damning
- Damning is stronger and means evidence so bad that it nearly proves guilt.
- compromising
- Compromising points to evidence that could embarrass or hurt someone's reputation, not necessarily a crime.
- condemning
- Condemning means passing judgment against someone, while incriminating is about providing evidence.
- telltale
- Telltale refers to a small sign that reveals a secret, with no need for crime.
Opposites
Word family
- incriminate verb
- to make someone seem guilty
- incrimination noun
- the act of showing someone's guilt
- self-incrimination noun
- the act of showing your own guilt
- incriminatory adjective
- a formal variant of incriminating
- crime noun
- an act that breaks the law
Commonly confused: incriminating or discriminating?
incriminating vs discriminating
Discriminating means able to judge differences well, while incriminating means pointing to guilt.
Practice
The lawyer warned him not to answer questions that could be ___ to himself.
Choose one answer.
Incriminating answers could show his guilt. Exonerating would clear him, and discriminating is a different word altogether.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incriminating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.