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.
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
Tom Brandis is a rumpled, pudgy wreck, an ex-priest who no longer believes in God and can’t absolve his son of a sin that shattered their family.
From Salon • Oct. 6, 2025
Alsup said the purchases did not absolve the company, but that they could reduce damages.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 2025
I might be lower than the ground, but that doesn’t absolve her from obligations to her own honor.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
