1
as in sincerely
without any attempt to impress by deception or exaggeration
"You look nice," she commented innocently
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in chastely
with purity of thought and deed
very young children approach the world so innocently
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of innocently
After innocently coming up in the scene by posting songs on Soundcloud, Slayyyter finally signed to a major label last year.
—
Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2026
Bethenny Frankel was innocently applying a roller on her face to help with inflammation on Thursday on Instagram.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026
The mistake begins innocently enough.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 10 Feb. 2026
The story starts innocently enough.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026
What began as innocently wagering ten or twenty bucks on games escalated to putting $5,000 on long-shot parlays, day after day.
—Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
Mainstream media didn’t care about Brown and Black youth above Central Park innocently losing their lives.
—Essence, 11 Dec. 2025
But why didn’t the scholarship go to any of the students at that school, Alberta Dome innocently wonders?
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2025
Participating gas stations innocently suggest using points to lower your out-of-pocket cost at the pump.
—Sarah Hostetler, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025
Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2026
Bethenny Frankel was innocently applying a roller on her face to help with inflammation on Thursday on Instagram.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026
The mistake begins innocently enough.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 10 Feb. 2026
The story starts innocently enough.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026
What began as innocently wagering ten or twenty bucks on games escalated to putting $5,000 on long-shot parlays, day after day.
—Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
Mainstream media didn’t care about Brown and Black youth above Central Park innocently losing their lives.
—Essence, 11 Dec. 2025
But why didn’t the scholarship go to any of the students at that school, Alberta Dome innocently wonders?
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2025
Participating gas stations innocently suggest using points to lower your out-of-pocket cost at the pump.
—Sarah Hostetler, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for innocently
Adverb
-
In a video message, Drake spoke sincerely about how much Furtado had inspired him.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
30 Mar. 2026
-
But it’s played sincerely, so the visual contrast just makes the connection feel clumsy, if not outright absurd.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
23 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
Its sustained support for armed proxy groups in the region — organizations that openly seek Israel’s destruction — demonstrates that this is not merely rhetorical.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Democratic Party leaders are openly worried, though, that the two Republicans — Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco — could finish 1-2, thereby ensuring the election of a GOP governor.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
8 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
To address the challenge, the team designed a swap gate based purely on geometric phases, that exchanges the quantum state of two qubits.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Apr. 2026
-
If the question was purely about having money to spend, traditional luxury would be booming as well.—
Fortune,
Fortune,
9 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
There were a lot of people genuinely really stoked for it.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Apr. 2026
-
This is a great feature from Quanta Magazine, which argues that AI has crossed a real threshold in mathematics, shifting from a curiosity to a genuinely useful research partner.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
14 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Grace's spaceship can be spun like a centrifuge to create artificial gravity so that scientific instruments will work properly.—
Tara Haelle,
NPR,
12 Apr. 2026
-
An existential crisis that can only be properly conveyed through Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
12 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
And beyond a few ad hoc fire safety laws that were scarcely enforced, cities’ building codes and water infrastructure naively lagged far behind the threat cities were creating.—
Noah Haggerty,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Educators are no longer naively wondering if students will use generative AI to do their homework for them.—
Jocelyn Gecker,
Fortune,
25 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
This is where funding for such morally controversial medical interventions belongs.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Much of the original cast and crew are returning, including Baesel and Angela Goethals as a morally questionable journalist who becomes Leslie’s ultimate final girl.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Some of us virtuously recycle items that will be transported across the world to smother island nations in single-use plastic bags and water bottles, milk jugs, yogurt tubs, pet food and potato chip bags, Styrofoam meat trays, Coke bottles, Amazon mailing envelopes, and fast-food wrappers.—
Caroline Fraser,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The glorious sweep of progress toward Roman civilization and prosperity means the end of an idyllic, virtuously rustic Golden Age.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Innocently.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/innocently. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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