Innocence is the quality of having no experience or knowledge of the more complex or unpleasant aspects of life.
...the sweet innocence of youth. [+ of]
Synonyms: naiveté, simplicity, inexperience, freshness More Synonyms of innocence
2. uncountable noun [oft poss NOUN]
If someone proves their innocence, they prove that they are not guilty of a crime.
He claims he has evidence which could prove his innocence.
Synonyms: blamelessness, righteousness, clean hands, uprightness More Synonyms of innocence
More Synonyms of innocence
innocence in British English
(ˈɪnəsəns)
noun
the quality or state of being innocent
Archaic word: innocency (ˈɪnəsənsɪ)
Word origin
C14: from Latin innocentia harmlessness, from innocēns doing no harm, blameless, from in-1 + nocēns harming, from nocēre to hurt, harm; see noxious
innocence in American English
(ˈɪnəsəns)
noun
1.
the quality or state of being innocent
; specif.,
a.
freedom from sin or moral wrong
b.
freedom from legal guilt
c.
freedom from guile or cunning; simplicity
d.
lack of sophistication; naiveté
e.
harmlessness
f.
ignorance
2. Archaic
an innocent person
3. US
UNRESOLVED CROSS REF
Word origin
OFr < L innocentia
Examples of 'innocence' in a sentence
innocence
This suggests neither guilt nor innocence; merely a difficulty.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
When his brother is accused of murder, he sets out to prove his innocence.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Then he proved his innocence.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It should be made clear to the jury that the most important evidence was that which bore directly on the guilt or innocence of the accused person.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The innocence of my youth might have played a part in it.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
They suggest a yearning for lost innocence.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Will she pull through and prove her innocence?
The Sun (2013)
He exudes a sweet innocence while giving a tremendous physical performance.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Anything which underlines his innocence of this crime is very pleasing.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Our job is not to decide innocence or guilt.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He pleaded innocence and has been found guilty.
The Sun (2014)
This will be done by examining the notion of " childhood innocence".
Walklate, Sandra Victimology - the victim and the criminal justice process (1989)
His gray ones were light with the open innocence of a youth.
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss THE WOLF AND THE DOVE
Neither guilt nor innocence has yet been established.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Few societies can plead their entire innocence on that score.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
None could be worth selling her childhood innocence.
The Sun (2011)
He tells this with the innocence of youth.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
He also has a childlike innocence.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Two stories approach this coupling of innocence and experience from the female point of view, chillingly.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
Though he hardly admits it to himself, he is also in search of his lost innocence.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
We will walk free and prove our innocence, right?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He also has a frail, sweet innocence that makes him immensely likeable.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Fresh evidence uncovered by his lawyers proved his innocence, and now he is a free man.
The Sun (2014)
I know they are carrying me with their sweet innocence, their natural optimism.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This restoration will go far beyond the innocence experienced in the Garden of Eden.
Christianity Today (2000)
Again, few pianists can really bring off the music's elusive sense of innocence filtered through experience.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Quotations
He's armed without that's innocent withinAlexander PopeEpilogue to the Satires
Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in othersLa RochefoucauldMaxims
If you would live innocently, seek solitudePublilius SyrusSententiae
Whoever blushes is already guilty; true innocence is ashamed of nothingJean Jacques RousseauÉmile
It's innocence when it charms us, ignorance when it doesn'tMignon McLaughlinThe Neurotic's Notebook
In other languages
innocence
British English: innocence NOUN
Innocence is the quality of having no experience or knowledge of the more difficult aspects of life.
...the sweet innocence of youth.
American English: innocence
Brazilian Portuguese: inocência
Chinese: 天真
European Spanish: inocencia
French: innocence
German: Unschuld
Italian: innocenza
Japanese: 無邪気
Korean: 순수함
European Portuguese: inocência
Latin American Spanish: inocencia
Chinese translation of 'innocence'
innocence
(ˈɪnəsns)
n(u)
(Law) 清白 (qīngbái)
(= naivety) 单(單)纯(純) (dānchún)
1 (noun)
Definition
the quality or state of being innocent
the sweet innocence of youth
Synonyms
naiveté
simplicity
inexperience
freshness
credulity
gullibility
She must take part of the blame for her own gullibility.
ingenuousness
artlessness
unworldliness
guilelessness
credulousness
simpleness
trustfulness
unsophistication
naiveness
Opposites
cunning
,
guile
,
worldliness
,
artfulness
,
disingenuousness
,
wiliness
2 (noun)
Definition
the quality or state of being innocent
He claims to have evidence which could prove his innocence.
Synonyms
blamelessness
righteousness
adopting a tone of moral righteousness
clean hands
uprightness
sinlessness
irreproachability
guiltlessness
Opposites
guilt
,
sinfulness
,
corruption
,
impurity
,
offensiveness
,
wrongness
3 (noun)
She can still evoke the innocence of 14-year-old Juliet.
Synonyms
chastity
I took a vow of chastity and celibacy when I became a priest.
virtue
His many attempts on her virtue were all unavailing.
purity
The American Female Reform Society promoted sexual purity.
modesty
When I turned over, she held the cotton sheet up above her face to protect my modesty.
virginity
She lost her virginity when she was 20.
celibacy
priests who take a vow of celibacy for life
continence
Everyone displays emotional continence but strong feelings swirl beneath the surface.
maidenhood
stainlessness
4 (noun)
`Maybe innocence is bliss,' he suggested.
Synonyms
ignorance
oblivion
He drank himself into oblivion.
lack of knowledge
inexperience
the youth and inexperience of his staff
unfamiliarity
greenness
unawareness
nescience (literary)
5 (noun)
Definition
the quality or state of being innocent
Synonyms
harmlessness
inoffensiveness
innocuousness
innoxiousness
Quotations
He's armed without that's innocent within [Alexander Pope – Epilogue to the Satires]Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others [La Rochefoucauld – Maxims]If you would live innocently, seek solitude [Publilius Syrus – Sententiae]Whoever blushes is already guilty; true innocence is ashamed of nothing [Jean Jacques Rousseau – Émile]It's innocence when it charms us, ignorance when it doesn't [Mignon McLaughlin – The Neurotic's Notebook]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of celibacy
priests who take a vow of celibacy for life
Synonyms
chastity,
purity,
virginity,
continence,
singleness
in the sense of continence
Everyone displays emotional continence but strong feelings swirl beneath the surface.
Synonyms
self-restraint,
moderation,
self-control,
celibacy,
abstinence,
chastity,
temperance,
asceticism
in the sense of gullibility
She must take part of the blame for her own gullibility.
Synonyms
credulity,
innocence,
naïveté,
blind faith,
credulousness,
trustingness,
simplicity
Synonyms of 'innocence'
innocence
Explore 'innocence' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of inexperience
the youth and inexperience of his staff
Synonyms
unfamiliarity,
ignorance,
newness,
rawness,
greenness,
callowness,
unexpertness
in the sense of modesty
When I turned over, she held the cotton sheet up above her face to protect my modesty.
Synonyms
decorum,
virtue,
decency,
delicacy,
propriety,
sobriety,
coyness,
demureness,
decorousness,
seemliness,
chasteness
in the sense of nescience
Synonyms
ignorance,
unconsciousness,
lack of knowledge,
obliviousness,
unawareness,
unenlightenment
in the sense of oblivion
Definition
the state of being unaware or unconscious
He drank himself into oblivion.
Synonyms
unconsciousness,
forgetfulness,
senselessness,
obliviousness,
unawareness,
insensibility,
(waters of) Lethe
in the sense of purity
The American Female Reform Society promoted sexual purity.
Synonyms
innocence,
virtue,
integrity,
honesty,
decency,
sincerity,
virginity,
piety,
chastity,
rectitude,
guilelessness,
virtuousness,
chasteness,
blamelessness
in the sense of righteousness
adopting a tone of moral righteousness
Synonyms
virtue,
justice,
honour,
equity,
integrity,
goodness,
morality,
honesty,
purity,
probity (formal),
rectitude,
faithfulness,
uprightness,
blamelessness,
ethicalness
in the sense of virginity
Definition
the condition or fact of being a virgin
She lost her virginity when she was 20.
Synonyms
chastity,
maidenhead,
maidenhood
in the sense of virtue
Definition
chastity, esp. in women
His many attempts on her virtue were all unavailing.