Word of the Day: Innocent
in-no-cent / ˈinəsənt
adjective
1. free from moral corruption; pure
If you see with innocent eyes, everything is divine.
Federico Fellini, 1920-1993
2. guiltless; free from blame
It is cruelty to the innocent not to punish the guilty.
Syrian Proverb
3. without evil intention
Grief falls upon human beings as the rain, not selecting good or evil, visiting the innocent, condemning those who have done no wrong.
Richard Jefferies, 1848-1887
4. harmless
Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804-1864
5. ignorant
All innocent mechanisms are muddied up with experience.
Sarah Hall, 1974-
6. lacking or devoid of something; usually followed by of
When one is innocent of pain, of the havoc it can wreak, one is never cruel.
Charlotte Lamb, 1937-2000
noun
1. a person who is pure or free from sin
The innocent is the person who explains nothing.
Albert Camus, 1913-1960
2. a naïve person
The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.
from ‘Needful Things’ by Stephen King, 1947-
3. a person who does not deserve to come to harm
Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.
Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745