exonerated

[ ig-zon-uh-rey-tid ]

adjective

1. having been cleared of an accusation or freed from blame:

   After years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, the exonerated man walks out of the prison gates and into the light of day.

noun

1. Usually the exonerated. a person or persons who have been cleared of an accusation or freed from blame:

   She is currently the director of a nonprofit that advocates against the death penalty and for the exonerated.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of exonerate ( def ).

Other Words From

• un·ex·on·er·at·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of exonerated¹

exonerate ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

At the time, Mr. Perez announced in a news release that he had been “exonerated.”

From New York Times

She’s since been exonerated in the court of public opinion, but Stewart hasn’t forgiven the men who used her conviction to further their political careers, including James Comey.

From Salon

And he invoked Trump’s statements about the Central Park Five, a group of black and Latino men who were wrongly convicted of assaulting a jogger in 1989 and exonerated years later.

From BBC

Nearly two decades after a woman falsely confessed to a shocking murder, her sons finally see her exonerated from a wrongful conviction that derailed their lives.

From Los Angeles Times

The men, who were between 14 and 16 at the time, served several years in prison before being exonerated in 2002.

From Salon

Related Words

• clean