innocent
in·no·cent/ˈɪnəsənt/adjective, noun
innocent is spelled I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T, 3 syllables: in·no·cent. The wrong spelling people search most is inocent: about 120 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 24 of all searches for the word. Innocent is an adjective meaning “Free from guilt, sin, or immorality”.
How many letters and syllables are in innocent?
| Letters | 8: I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·no·cent |
| In writing | 28 times per million words; the 3,288th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, inocent, about 120 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell innocent?
Innocent is spelled I-N-N-O-C-E-N-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 24 of the searches for innocent in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is innocent?
Innocent appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,288th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce innocent?
- /ˈɪnəsənt/
Innocent has 3 syllables, split in·no·cent in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-innocent.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-innocent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of innocent
- more innocent comparative
- most innocent superlative
- hinnocent
- innocents plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does innocent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
I'm sure there's an innocent explanation for all this.
- 2
Bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act.
- 3
Without wrongful intent; accidental or in good faith.
He didn't mean anything by it; it was an innocent mistake.
- 4
Naive; artless.
- 5
Not harmful; innocuous; harmless; benign.
- 6
Lacking (something), or knowledge of it.
- 7
Lawful; permitted.
an innocent trade
- 8
Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture.
innocent goods carried to a belligerent nation
noun
- 1
One who is innocent, especially a young child.
The slaughter of the innocents was a significant event in the New Testament.
- 2
obsoleteA harmless simple-minded person; an idiot.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Innocent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pure, free from sin, untainted:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | innocent |
| German | rein, unschuldig |
| Portuguese | inocente |
| Spanish | inocente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does innocent come from?
From Middle English innocent, from Old French innocent, inocent, borrowed from Latin innocēns (“harmless, inoffensive”), from in- (“not”) + nocēns, present participle of noceō (“to hurt”). By surface analysis, in- (“not”) + nocent (“harmful; guilty”). Displaced native Old English unsċyldiġ.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).