innocent

adjective ee-noh-SAHN Less Common

Also means

naive

Usage Note

Innocent (feminine innocente) is used in legal contexts ('not guilty') and informally to mean naive or guileless. The noun innocence is a direct cognate. In child-rearing contexts, faire l'innocent ('to play innocent') means to pretend not to know something one clearly knows.

Examples

"Le tribunal l'a déclaré innocent."

Natural Translation

The court declared him innocent.

Literal Translation

The tribunal it-has declared innocent.

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