1 ~ (of sth) not guilty of a crime, etc.; not having done sth wrong:
They have imprisoned an innocent man. * She was found innocent of any crime. * He was the innocent party (= person) in the breakdown of the marriage. * There must be an innocent explanation for her behaviour.
OPPGUILTY
2 [onlybeforenoun] suffering harm or being killed because of a crime, war, etc. although not directly involved in it:
an innocent bystander * innocent victims of a bomb blast * Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in this conflict.
3 not intended to cause harm or upset sb
SYNHARMLESS:
It was all innocent fun. * It was a perfectly innocent remark.
4 having little experience of the world, especially of sexual matters, or of evil or unpleasant things:
an innocent young child
innocently adverb:
'Oh, Sue went too, did she?' I asked innocently (= pretending I did not know that this was important).
noun an innocent person, especially a young child
