guiltless

C2+ Topic:Ethics & Social Judgment

US /ˈɡɪltləs/ UK /ˈɡɪltləs/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
free from guilt or blame; innocent

The jury found her wholly guiltless of the charges.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · free from guilt or blame;... innocent blameless faultless clear irreproachable spotless

Opposites

guilty culpable blameworthy

Word family

Forms guiltlessness

Derived forms guiltlesslyguiltlessness

Related forms guilt guilty guiltiness

Etymology

From Old English gyltleas, from gylt ('crime, sin, fault') + -leas ('without, free from').

gylt Old English -lēas Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Ethics & Social Judgment Word Formation & Derivatives

# guiltless

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈɡɪltləs
**IPA (UK):** ˈɡɪltləs

## Meanings
1. free from guilt or blame; innocent

## Examples
- The jury found her wholly guiltless of the charges.

## Synonyms
- innocent
- blameless
- faultless
- clear
- irreproachable
- spotless

## Antonyms
- guilty
- culpable
- blameworthy

## Derived Forms
- guiltlessly
- guiltlessness

## Related Forms
- guilt
- guilty
- guiltiness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gylt
- Root: -lēas

## Etymology
From Old English gyltleas, from gylt ('crime, sin, fault') + -leas ('without, free from').

## AI Etymology
Guiltless is from Old English gyltleas, from gylt ('crime, sin, fault') + -leas ('without, free from'). Important recorded forms include gylt (Old English) and -lēas (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers free from guilt or blame; innocent. The wider family includes derived forms such as guiltlessly and guiltlessness and related words such as guilt, guilty, and guiltiness.

## Topics
- Ethics & Social Judgment
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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guiltless

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