absolve
Americanverb (used with object)
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to free from guilt or blame or their consequences.
The court absolved her of guilt in his death.
- Antonyms:
- blame
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to set free or release, as from some duty, obligation, or responsibility (usually followed byfrom ).
to be absolved from one's oath.
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to grant pardon for.
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Ecclesiastical.
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to grant or pronounce remission of sins to.
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to remit (a sin) by absolution.
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to declare (censure, as excommunication) removed.
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verb
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(usually foll by from) to release from blame, sin, punishment, obligation, or responsibility
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to pronounce not guilty; acquit; pardon
Related Words
Absolve, acquit, exonerate all mean to free from blame. Absolve is a general word for this idea. To acquit is to release from a specific and usually formal accusation: The court must acquit the accused if there is not enough evidence of guilt. To exonerate is to consider a person clear of blame or consequences for an act (even when the act is admitted), or to justify the person for having done it: to be exonerated for a crime committed in self-defense.
Other Word Forms
- absolvable adjective
- absolvent adjective
- absolver noun
- unabsolved adjective
Etymology
Origin of absolve
1525–35; < Latin absolvere, equivalent to ab- ab- + solvere to loosen; solve
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This documentary doesn’t absolve any sins; it highlights them.
From Salon • Feb. 1, 2026
However, the Nuremberg tribunals after World War II established in international law that obeying an unlawful order does not absolve an individual of responsibility for atrocities.
From Slate • Dec. 3, 2025
That the prison had been overcrowded at the time didn’t absolve it from its responsibility to provide the plaintiff, whose doctor had advised to avoid tobacco smoke, with a smoke-free environment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
Alsup said the purchases did not absolve the company, but that they could reduce damages.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 2025
“Do you really think that you can absolve yourself of guilt by pretending to be someone else? I don’t like you, Fortiori. Do you know that? I don’t like you at all.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
