Adjacent Words

Innocent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IN'NOCENT, a. [L.innocens.]
1. Properly, not noxious; not producing injury; free from qualities that can injure; harmless; innoxious; as an innocent medicine or remedy.
2. Free from guilt; not having done wrong or violated any law; not tainted with sin; pure; upright. In this general sense, no human being that is a moral agent, can be innocent. It is followed by of.
3. Free from the guilt of a particular crime or evil action; as, a man is innocent of the crime charged in the indictment.
4. Lawful; permitted; as an innocent trade.
5. Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture; as innocent goods carried to a belligerent nation.
IN'NOCENT, n. One free from guilt or harm.
1. A natural; an idiot. [Unusual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: free from evil or guilt; "an innocent child"; "the principle that one is innocent until proved guilty" [syn: innocent, guiltless, clean-handed] [ant: guilty]
2: lacking intent or capacity to injure; "an innocent prank" [syn: innocent, innocuous]
3: free from sin [syn: impeccant, innocent, sinless]
4: lacking in sophistication or worldliness; "a child's innocent stare"; "his ingenuous explanation that he would not have burned the church if he had not thought the bishop was in it" [syn: innocent, ingenuous]
5: not knowledgeable about something specified; "American tourists wholly innocent of French"; "a person unacquainted with our customs" [syn: innocent, unacquainted]
6: completely wanting or lacking; "writing barren of insight"; "young recruits destitute of experience"; "innocent of literary merit"; "the sentence was devoid of meaning" [syn: barren, destitute, devoid, free, innocent]
7: (used of things) lacking sense or awareness; "fine innocent weather" n
1: a person who lacks knowledge of evil [syn: innocent, inexperienced person]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin innocent-, innocens, from in- + nocent-, nocens wicked, from present participle of noc?re to harm — more at noxious Date: 14th century 1. a. free from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil ; blameless <an innocent child> b. harmless in effect or intention <searching for a hidden motive in even the most innocent conversation — Leonard Wibberley>; also candid <gave me an innocent gaze> c. free from legal guilt or fault; also lawful <a wholly innocent transaction> 2. a. lacking or reflecting a lack of sophistication, guile, or self-consciousness ; artless, ingenuous b. ignorant <almost entirely innocent of Latin — C. L. Wrenn>; also unaware <perfectly innocent of the confusion he had created — B. R. Haydon> 3. lacking or deprived of something <her face innocent of cosmetics — Marcia Davenport> • innocent noun • innocently adverb

Merriam Webster's

biographical name name of 13 popes: especially II died 1143 (pope 1130-43); III 1160(or 1161)-1216 (pope 1198-1216); IV d 1254 (pope 1243-54); XI 1611-1689 (pope 1676-89)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 free from moral wrong; sinless. 2 (usu. foll. by of) not guilty (of a crime etc.). 3 a simple; guileless; na{iuml}ve. b pretending to be guileless. 4 harmless. 5 (foll. by of) colloq. without, lacking (appeared, innocent of shoes). --n. 1 an innocent person, esp. a young child. 2 (in pl.) the young children killed by Herod after the birth of Jesus (Matt.
2:16). Phrases and idioms: Innocents' (or Holy Innocents') Day the day, 28 Dec., commemorating the massacre of the innocents. Derivatives: innocence n. innocency n. innocently adv. Etymology: ME f. OF innocent or L innocens innocent- (as IN-(1), nocere hurt)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Innocent In"no*cent, a. [F. innocent, L. innocens, -entis; pref. in- not + nocens, p. pr. of nocere to harm, hurt. See Noxious.] 1. Not harmful; free from that which can injure; innoxious; innocuous; harmless; as, an innocent medicine or remedy. The spear Sung innocent,and spent its force in air. --Pope. 2. Morally free from guilt; guiltless; not tainted with sin; pure; upright. To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb. --Shak. I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. --Matt. xxvii. 4. The aidless,innocent lady, his wished prey. --Milton. 3. Free from the guilt of a particular crime or offense; as, a man is innocent of the crime charged. Innocent from the great transgression. --Ps. xix. 13. 4. Simple; artless; foolish. --Shak. 5. Lawful; permitted; as, an innocent trade. 6. Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture; as, innocent goods carried to a belligerent nation. Innocent party (Law),a party who has not notice of a fact tainting a litigated transaction with illegality. Syn: Harmless; innoxious; innoffensive; guiltless; spotless; immaculate; pure; unblamable; blameless; faultless; guileless; upright.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Innocent In"no*cent, n. 1. An innocent person; one free from, or unacquainted with, guilt or sin. --Shak. 2. An unsophisticated person; hence, a child; a simpleton; an idiot. --B. Jonson. In Scotland a natural fool was called an innocent. --Sir W. Scott. Innocents' day (Eccl.), Childermas day.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(innocents) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If someone is innocent, they did not commit a crime which they have been accused of. He was sure that the man was innocent of any crime... The police knew from day one that I was innocent. ? guilty ADJ: oft ADJ of n 2. If someone is innocent, they have no experience or knowledge of the more complex or unpleasant aspects of life. They seemed so young and innocent... = naive ADJ • An innocent is someone who is innocent. Ian was a hopeless innocent where women were concerned. N-COUNT • innocently The baby gurgled innocently on the bed. ADV: usu ADV with v 3. Innocent people are those who are not involved in a crime or conflict, but are injured or killed as a result of it. All those wounded were innocent victims... ADJ: usu ADJ n 4. An innocent question, remark, or comment is not intended to offend or upset people, even if it does so. It was a perfectly innocent question. = harmless ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Harmless, inoffensive, innocuous, innoxious. 2. Guiltless, sinless, faultless, blameless, immaculate, spotless, pure, clean, clear, guileless, upright, unfallen. 3. Not guilty, free from the guilt (of a particular crime).

Moby Thesaurus

above suspicion, angel, angelic, artless, awkward, babe, bairn, beginner, benign, blameless, blankminded, blotless, bluff, blunt, boob, born yesterday, budding, callow, candid, chaste, cherub, child, child of nature, childlike, chit, chump, cinch, clean, cleanly, clear, confiding, credulous, credulous person, cull, darling, dependent, depending, destitute, dewy, direct, dove, dovelike, dumb, dupe, easy mark, easy pickings, empty, empty-headed, exemplary, fall guy, faultless, fish, fool, frank, gauche, gobe-mouches, green, greener, greenhorn, greeny, groping, growing, gudgeon, guileless, guiltless, gull, gullible, harmless, hick, honest, ignorant, immaculate, immature, impubic, in the clear, inane, incorrupt, inculpable, inexperienced, infant, ingenu, ingenue, ingenuous, innocuous, inoffensive, intact, irreproachable, juicy, kid, kitten, know-nothing, lamb, lambkin, lamblike, leadpipe cinch, legal, legitimate, licit, little bugger, little fellow, little guy, little innocent, little one, little tad, little tot, lout, mere child, minor, mite, monkey, naive, nescient, new-fledged, newborn babe, newcomer, nipper, noble savage, nonmalignant, nonpoisonous, nontoxic, nonvirulent, not guilty, novice, oaf, offenseless, offspring, open, openhearted, outspoken, patsy, peewee, pigeon, plain, plaything, prelapsarian, pristine, prize sap, pure, pure in heart, purehearted, pushover, raw, reliant, relying, reproachless, righteous, ripening, rube, safe, sans reproche, sap, saphead, sappy, schlemiel, sexually innocent, shaver, simple, simple soul, simplehearted, simpleminded, sincere, single-hearted, single-minded, sinless, sitting duck, snowy, spotless, stainless, stooge, strange to, sucker, tad, taintless, tender, tentative, tot, toy, trustful, trusting, trusting soul, trusty, unacquainted, unadult, unaffected, unapprized, unartificial, unblamable, unblemished, unblotted, uncomprehending, unconversant, uncorrupt, uncorrupted, undamaging, undefiled, underage, undeveloped, unenlightened, unfallen, unfamiliar, unfledged, unformed, unguarded, unhurtful, unilluminated, unimpeachable, uninformed, uninitiated, uninjurious, unintelligent, unknowing, unlapsed, unlicked, unmellowed, unobjectionable, unobnoxious, unoffending, unpolluted, unposted, unreserved, unripe, unschooled, unseasoned, unsoiled, unsophisticate, unsophisticated, unspotted, unstained, unstudied, unsullied, unsure, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, untainted, untarnished, untouched by evil, unversed, unwary, unworldly, vacuous, vernal, victim, virginal, virtuous, void, wee tot, well-intentioned, white, with clean hands, without reproach, without suspicion, yokel