innocent
/ˈɪnəsənt/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.45 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
adj
Bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act.
adj
Without wrongful intent; accidental or in good faith.
adj
Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture.
Example Sentences
- "I'm sure there's an innocent explanation for all this."
- "The situation certainly looked bad, but it turned out that everything was innocent."
- "to offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb to appease an angry god"
- "2018 September 26, Brian Karem, "Bethesda Resident Describes "Culture Of Privilege" Leading To Exploitation And Abuse" in The Montgomery County Sentinelhttps://web.archive.org/web/20180927140428/https://mont.thesentinel.com/2018/09/26/bethesda-resident-describes-culture-of-privilege-leading-to-sexual-assault/ "These were not innocent times," she said."
- "He didn't mean anything by it; it was an innocent mistake."
- "The child's innocent question revealed the embarrassing truth in front of everyone."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *neḱ-, innocent, innocēns