innocent

1. adjective

1)

he was entirely innocent

Syn:

guiltless, blameless, in the clear, unimpeachable, irreproachable, above suspicion, faultless; honorable, honest, upright, law-abiding; informal squeaky clean

Ant:

guilty

2)

innocent fun

Syn:

harmless, benign, innocuous, safe, inoffensive

Ant:

harmful

3)

Alcott's depiction of innocent girls

Syn:

virtuous, pure, moral, decent, righteous, upright, wholesome; demure, modest, chaste, virginal; impeccable, spotless, sinless, unsullied, incorrupt, undefiled; informal squeaky clean, lily-white, pure as the driven snow

Ant:

sinful

4)

she is innocent of guile

Syn:

free from, without, lacking (in), clear of, ignorant of, unaware of, untouched by

5)

at the innocent age of twelve

Syn:

naive, ingenuous, trusting, credulous, unsuspicious, unwary, unguarded; impressionable, gullible, easily led; inexperienced, unworldly, unsophisticated, green; simple, artless, guileless, wide-eyed; informal wet behind the ears, born yesterday

Ant:

worldly, seasoned

2. noun

an innocent in a strange land

Syn:

ingénue, unworldly person; child, baby, babe; novice; informal greenhorn; literary babe in arms

••

innocent

Innocent properly means 'harmless,' but it has long been extended in general language to mean 'not guilty.' The jury (or judge) in a criminal trial does not, strictly speaking, find a defendant 'innocent.' Rather, a defendant may be guilty or not guilty of the charges brought. In common use, however, owing perhaps to the concept of the presumption of innocence, which instructs a jury to consider a defendant free of wrongdoing until proven guilty on the basis of evidence, not guilty and innocent have come to be thought of as synonymous.