innocent

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Not guilty of a crime or wrongdoing.

   The court found him innocent of all charges.

2. 2
   adj

   Not intended to cause harm; harmless.

   It was just an innocent joke.

3. 3
   adj

   Lacking experience of the world; naive.

   She gave me an innocent, trusting look.

Common collocations

• innocent victim Adjective + noun

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.

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