innocent
Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
Adjective 4 meanings
Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
“I'm sure there's an innocent explanation for all this.”
Bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act.
Without wrongful intent; accidental or in good faith.
“He didn't mean anything by it; it was an innocent mistake.”
Naive; artless.
Noun 1 meaning
One who is innocent, especially a young child.
“The slaughter of the innocents was a significant event in the New Testament.”
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.
Similar and opposite words
INNOCENT at a glance
INNOCENT has 8 letters and scores 10 points in Scrabble (I 1 + N 1 + N 1 + O 1 + C 3 + E 1 + N 1 + T 1) and 14 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #3,243 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with innocent
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