innocent
noun
plural innocents
: a person who is innocent: such as
a
: a person free from sin : a young child
the biblical massacre/slaughter of the innocents
b
: a naïve, inexperienced, or unsophisticated person
a political innocent
… during a great land boom in which immense fortunes were made and innocents like himself fleeced.—
Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
c
: a blameless person : a person who does not deserve to be harmed
The war caused the death of thousands of innocents.
Examples of innocent in a Sentence
an innocent who is often puzzled by and prey to the evils of the world
Recent Examples on the Web
And quite frankly, that calculus essentially admits that innocents are going to be hurt, but that is a price to pay.
—Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026
Practically as soon as the #MeToo movement began, it was accused of going too far—sweeping up innocents in its wake, failing to allow its targets due process.
—Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 26 Apr. 2026
How much more dangerous could a regime become than one willing to murder innocents, during peacetime, 8,500 miles away?
—Katherine Ellison, Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2026
The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and much of the Iranian security hierarchy, would not survive the first day of bombing; neither would about a hundred and seventy-five innocents in the southern city of Minab, most of them children.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for innocent
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Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026
Practically as soon as the #MeToo movement began, it was accused of going too far—sweeping up innocents in its wake, failing to allow its targets due process.
—Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 26 Apr. 2026
How much more dangerous could a regime become than one willing to murder innocents, during peacetime, 8,500 miles away?
—Katherine Ellison, Washington Post, 19 Apr. 2026
The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and much of the Iranian security hierarchy, would not survive the first day of bombing; neither would about a hundred and seventy-five innocents in the southern city of Minab, most of them children.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for innocent
Cite this Entry
“Innocent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innocent. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
innocent
adjective
in·no·cent
ˈin-ə-sənt 
1
: free from sin : pure
2
: free from guilt or blame : guiltless
innocent of the crime
3
: free from harmful influence or effect : harmless
innocent fun
innocent
noun
innocently
adverb
Medical Definition
innocent
adjective
in·no·cent
ˈin-ə-sənt
: lacking capacity to injure : benign
an innocent tumor
innocent heart murmurs
Legal Definition
innocent
adjective
in·no·cent
ˈi-nə-sənt
: characterized by innocence
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