What does innocent mean?
Word: Innocent
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Innocent means free from blame, because you did not do the wrong thing that others think you did. It can also mean simple and trusting, knowing little about the bad things in the world.
Synonyms: blameless, pure
How do you spell innocent?
Syllables: in - no - cent
Tricky part: Children often drop one n and write inocent. Say in-no slowly and you can hear that an n belongs to each part.
Watch out for: inocent, innocant, innicent
Memory tip: Think of in + no: an innocent person says no to wrongdoing, and both the in and the no keep their own n.
Innocent in a sentence
Example 1: The puppy looked innocent, but the chewed slipper said otherwise.
Example 2: Grandma laughed at the innocent question my little sister asked about the moon.
Example 3: Babies have such innocent faces when they are asleep.
Fun Fact
Innocent comes from the Latin innocens, made of in, meaning not, and nocere, meaning to harm, so it first meant harmless.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
innocent
a) honest
b) guilty
c) harmless
d) kind
Show answer
b) guilty. Guilty means you did the wrong thing; innocent means you did not.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) innocent
b) patient
c) gentel
d) honest
Show answer
c) gentel. Gentle ends in le, the same way as little and table.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
inno_e_t
a) s, n
b) c, n
c) s, m
d) c, m
Show answer
b) c, n. The s sound here is spelt with a soft c, and an n comes before the final t.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tecnonin
a) incident
b) ignorant
c) innocent
d) innocence
Show answer
c) innocent. Innocence would need another c and an e, incident a d, and ignorant a g, an r and an a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Freya's vase broke while she was at school. Her brother says, 'Freya is innocent.' What does he mean?
a) She broke the vase on purpose.
b) She broke only a small part.
c) She did not break the vase.
d) She hid the broken pieces.
Show answer
c) She did not break the vase.
2. An innocent remark is one that is
a) said only to show off
b) said to upset a friend
c) said with no wish to hurt anyone
d) said to trick a friend
Show answer
c) said with no wish to hurt anyone
