acquitted
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.having been found not guilty of a crime in a court of law.
adj.having been formally cleared of a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty. The term is non-gradable.
Simple“The acquitted man walked out of the courthouse as a free person.”
In context“The acquitted defendant declined to comment to the press, choosing instead to return home immediately after the jury delivered its verdict.”
UsageUsually functions as a predicative adjective after a linking verb like 'be' or 'stand', though it can appear before a noun.
PitfallThe man was acquitted from the murder. The man was acquitted of the murder.In both adjective and verb forms, use the preposition 'of' to name the specific crime.
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.the past tense of 'acquit', meaning a court officially said you did not commit a crime.
v.the past tense and past participle of the transitive verb 'acquit', meaning to free someone from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty.
Simple“The jury acquitted her of all charges after only two hours of talking.”
In context“Although the prosecution presented several witnesses, the jury acquitted the suspect due to a lack of physical evidence linking him to the scene.”
UsageTakes a direct object (the person) followed by the preposition 'of' (the crime).
“The board recommended that four of the five acquitted players remain suspended from all Hockey Canada-sanctioned programmes.”
“He acquitted himself well in the match, making nine passes in the final third, the third most of any player, and winning two fouls.”