ENGLISH
REFERENCE

pardoned

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˈpɑɹdənd// UK //pˈɑːdənd// par·doned

adj. forgiven for a crime or a mistake. When you are pardoned, you are officially allowed to go free without being punished.

adj. released from the legal consequences of a crime or conviction by an official authority. Often used predicatively after a linking verb or as a participial adjective.


SIMPLE

The prisoner was pardoned after new evidence was found.

CONTEXTUAL

The president decided that the activist should be pardoned to help heal the country's political divisions.

COMPLEX

Although he was eventually pardoned by the governor, the social stigma of his initial conviction made it difficult for him to find steady employment in his home town.

Synonyms
Usage

Often follows a linking verb like 'be' or 'get'; can also be used as a past participle in passive constructions.

Pitfall

The judge pardoned to him.The judge pardoned him.The verb form of pardon is transitive and takes a direct object without a preposition.

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