exonerate
ig-ZAHN-uh-rayt
/ɪɡˈzɑː.nə.reɪt/
To officially clear someone from blame, guilt, or responsibility for a fault or crime.
Exonerate implies a full, definitive declaration of innocence, often through clear new evidence.
The story behind the word. From Latin 'exonerare', meaning 'to unburden or unload' (from 'ex-' off + 'onus' burden). Literally, to exonerate someone is to lift a heavy burden of accusation off their shoulders.
Word relationships
- vindicate: Vindicate means proving someone was right or justified, whereas exonerate emphasizes clearing from criminal guilt or fault.
- acquit: Acquit is a formal jury verdict of 'not guilty' in trial; exonerate means proven innocent, often after conviction.
- incriminate: Incriminate means to present evidence showing guilt.
- convict: Convict means to formally declare guilty in court.
Commonly confused with
- pardon: Exonerate establishes that the person was innocent and wrongly blamed; a pardon forgives the penalty for an offense without necessarily proving innocence.
Word family
- exoneration (noun): The act of officially clearing someone of guilt.
- exonerative (adjective): Tending or serving to exonerate.
Collocations
- fully exonerate
- exonerate completely
- exonerated by DNA
- exonerate from blame
Idioms & expressions
- exonerate from all charges
Example sentences
- "New DNA evidence was sufficient to completely exonerate the man after twenty years of wrongful imprisonment." Forensic science result
- "The independent inquiry exonerated the officers of all accusations of professional misconduct." Official investigation
Memory hook
EX-ONER-ate = Lift the ONUS (burden) EX (out) off of someone. Exonerate = Remove the burden of guilt.
When not to use
Do not use if someone is merely let off on a technicality; exoneration implies innocence of wrongdoing.
Fun facts
- The Innocence Project has used DNA evidence to exonerate over 375 wrongfully convicted individuals in the United States since 1992.
Explore more words
Also appears in
- Communication → Apologies & Forgiveness
- Leadership → Responsibility & Accountability
- Conflict → Accusation & Defense
- Law → Prosecution & Defense
- Law → Verdicts, Sentencing & Punishment
- Law → Prisons & Rehabilitation
- Criminology, Law Enforcement & Penal Systems → Capital & Corporal Punishment
- Criminology, Law Enforcement & Penal Systems → Forensic Science & Investigation
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