as in innocent
free from guilt or blame
the state's lieutenant governor was the only member of the administration who could claim to have remained lily-white during the scandal
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Recent Examples of lily-white
Forced to leave their home in Shreveport, Louisiana, and her civil rights advocacy behind, Charlotte arrives in Derry apprehensive about the lily-white town and unsettling vibes that seem to blanket everything.
—
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025
In the mid-2010s, the movie industry lurched haltingly toward greater representation after social-media campaigns called attention to the overwhelming dominance of lily-white stories and awards shows.
—Andrew R. Chow, Time, 7 Nov. 2025
The broadening Carlile spoke of was evident in the Americanas’ increasing diversity in what was once considered a lily-white genre, as well as the growth of interest among young people for new old souls like Jesse Welles.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Sep. 2025
To the naked eye, the sport’s lily-white facade is deeply pervasive.
—Essence, 17 Oct. 2024
The suburbs have long and deep histories of racial exclusion, creating the lily-white neighborhoods that benefited generations of white families.
—Becky Nicolaides / Made By History, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
Riding was a lily-white sport there, too, but there wasn’t the same kind of ceiling on what was possible for a Black man.
—Ryan Lenora Brown, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 June 2024
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025
In the mid-2010s, the movie industry lurched haltingly toward greater representation after social-media campaigns called attention to the overwhelming dominance of lily-white stories and awards shows.
—Andrew R. Chow, Time, 7 Nov. 2025
The broadening Carlile spoke of was evident in the Americanas’ increasing diversity in what was once considered a lily-white genre, as well as the growth of interest among young people for new old souls like Jesse Welles.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 11 Sep. 2025
To the naked eye, the sport’s lily-white facade is deeply pervasive.
—Essence, 17 Oct. 2024
The suburbs have long and deep histories of racial exclusion, creating the lily-white neighborhoods that benefited generations of white families.
—Becky Nicolaides / Made By History, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
Riding was a lily-white sport there, too, but there wasn’t the same kind of ceiling on what was possible for a Black man.
—Ryan Lenora Brown, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lily-white
Adjective
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As if the wide-eyed innocent who arrived here has been hardened.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
20 Feb. 2026
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Other concerns, Corrado notes, include the chance that an extremely sensitive DNA test could generate a DNA profile of someone who was never at a crime scene but whose DNA was transferred there by a family member or through other innocent means.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Wrigley is not entirely blameless.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
10 Feb. 2026
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Stefanski certainly isn’t blameless.—
Jason Lloyd,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Each of them offers money and position but nothing much in the way of pleasure, excitement, intellectual stimulation, or the prospect of anything other than a life of loveless, socially irreproachable tedium possibly brightened by the occasional extramarital affair.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
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Beneath their air of irreproachable authority, Jung and Freud — both brilliantly played, the first with subtlety, the other with theatrical relish — wrestle with petty grievances and insecurities, while the former stubbornly rationalizes his affair with onetime patient Spielrein.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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And how many guiltless prisoners there are here!—
Alexei Navalny,
The New Yorker,
11 Oct. 2024
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Many fans found its generally joyous treatment of Miranda’s guiltless affair with Che, a nonbinary comedian, in the first season off-putting.—
Lili Loofbourow,
Washington Post,
21 June 2023
Cite this Entry
“Lily-white.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lily-white. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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