acquitted

American  

[uh-kwit-id] / əˈkwɪt ɪd /

adjective

1. having been declared not guilty of a crime.

   The mayor extended condolences to the victim’s family, but also expressed empathy for the acquitted officers.

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noun

1. Usually the acquitted a person or persons who have been declared not guilty of a crime.

   None of the acquitted received any kind of compensation or redress.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of acquit.

Other Word Forms

• unacquitted adjective

Etymology

Origin of acquitted

acquit + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

An acquitted defendant is off the hook. If you're on trial for a crime and you're found "not guilty," then you're acquitted and you can go free. When you have been labeled acquitted, that means the jury has found you not guilty of the crime and legally blameless. The word gained notoriety in the highly publicized 1995 trial of the former football star O. J. Simpson, accused of murdering his wife and her friend. Simpson’s attorney’s mantra to the jury was "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit," referring to a glove connected to the murder.

Example Sentences

Tucker and a handful of associates were acquitted, but in the end the company produced only 51 vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Price was acquitted, leading directly to a new law allowing cremation in the UK.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Samane also was acquitted of the stalking charge.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

Earlier this week, Hunt and a third defendant in the case, Daniel Martin, were formally acquitted of the charge of murder after the prosecution offered no evidence against them.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

That’s what the jury in the Diallo trial concluded, and Boss, Carroll, McMellon, and Murphy were all acquitted of murder charges.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell