innocence Definition

innocent
adj

1. Free from sin; pure.

Thesaurus: chaste, undefiled, unstained, pure, immaculate, incorrupt, virtuous, impeccable, wholesome, angelic, moral; inexperienced, youthful, young, raw, ignorant, untried, green.
2. Not guilty, eg of a crime. Compare guilty 1, not proven.

Thesaurus: guiltless, blameless, inculpable, impeccable, faultless, safe, uninvolved, above suspicion; Antonym: guilty, blameworthy, culpable.
3. Not intending to cause harm, or not causing it; inoffensive.

Example: an innocent remark
Thesaurus: well-intended, harmless, innocuous, inoffensive; Antonym: malicious.
4. Simple and trusting; guileless; artless.

Thesaurus: guileless, ingenuous, open, fresh, frank, confiding, trusting, childish, naive, simple.
5. Lacking, free or deprived of something.

Example: innocent of all knowledge of the event
6. medicine.
Said of a tumour, etc: not malignant or cancerous; benign.

noun

1. An innocent person, especially a young child or simple and trusting adult.

Thesaurus: naif, beginner, baby, child, ingénue, neophyte, greenhorn, tenderfoot, babe in the woods; Antonym: sophisticate.

Derivative: innocence
noun

The quality or state of being guiltless or blameless
Thesaurus: guiltlessness, blamelessness, integrity, impeccability, inculpability, faultlessness; Antonym: guilt, culpability, dishonesty.

noun

The quality of being simple and trusting
Thesaurus: guilelessness, artlessness, naiveté, frankness, candidness, simplemindedness, unaffectedness, ingenuousness, sincerity; Antonym: wiliness, shrewdness.

noun

The quality of being inexperienced
Thesaurus: inexperience, naiveté, ignorance, virginity, purity, chastity, virtue; Antonym: worldliness.

Derivative: innocently
adverb

Etymology: 14c: French, from Latin innocens, from nocere to hurt harmless.