innocent adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of innocent adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

innocent

adjective
 
 
/ˈɪnəsnt/
 
/ˈɪnəsnt/
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  1.  
     not guilty of a crime, etc.; not having done something wrong
    • They have imprisoned an innocent man.
    • innocent of something She was found innocent of any crime.
    • innocent of doing something I was convinced that he was innocent of taking the money.
    • He was the innocent party (= person) in the dispute.
    • There must be an innocent explanation for her behaviour.
    opposite guilty
    Extra Examples
    • He pleaded innocent to the charges.
    • I am totally innocent of this crime.
    • I had always believed her innocent.
    • The accused person should always be presumed innocent until proved guilty.
    • The court found her innocent of the crime.
    • She tried to sound all innocent as she asked the question.
    • Stop playing innocent and answer my questions, please.
    Topics Law and justiceb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • plead
    • believe somebody
    • …
    adverb
    • completely
    • entirely
    • totally
    • …
    preposition
    • of
    See full entry
  2.  
     [only before noun] suffering harm or being killed because of a crime, war, etc. although not directly involved in it
    • an innocent bystander
    • innocent victims of the bomb blast
    • Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in this conflict.
    • He expressed outrage at the loss of innocent lives.
    Topics Crime and punishmentb2
  3.  
     having little experience of the world, especially of sexual matters, or of evil or unpleasant things synonym naive
    • At the time I was still an innocent young child.
    • She is very naive and innocent.
    • He looked so sweet and innocent.
    Extra Examples
    • She was sixteen and sweetly innocent.
    • He came across as deceptively innocent and childlike.
    • the strangely innocent world of her childhood
    Topics Life stagesb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • act
    • appear
    • be
    • …
    adverb
    • very
    • sweetly
    • deceptively
    • …
    phrases
    • sweet and innocent
    See full entry
  4. not intended to cause harm or upset somebody synonym harmless
    • It was all innocent fun.
    • It was a perfectly innocent remark.
    • The circumstance could be altogether innocent, but suspicions have been raised.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • act
    • appear
    • be
    • …
    adverb
    • very
    • all
    • perfectly
    • …
    See full entry
    5. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French, or from Latin innocent- ‘not harming’, from in- ‘not’ + nocere ‘to hurt’.
See innocent in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee innocent in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: innocent

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influence
verb
 
 
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