Meaning & use

innocent

adjective·Everyday

Not guilty of a crime or wrongdoing; free from moral wrong or corrupting experience.

See it in a sentence

The jury found the defendant innocent after reviewing all of the evidence carefully.

The innocent child had no idea her comment had embarrassed everyone at the table.

A note on using this word

Innocent can describe legal guiltlessness, or a more general lack of worldly experience, as in 'an innocent question.'

Words with a similar meaning

guiltlessblamelessnaive

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

guiltyculpable

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “innocent”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.