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exoneration

exoneration

10 7.9
An official clearing of a person from blame after being accused
  • noun
  • /ɪɡˌzɒnəˈreɪʃən/
  • Formal
translation icon : exoneración
  • Northwestern's center, which has been instrumental in 37 exonerations, employs a social worker to help newly released exonerees find housing and jobs.
  • self-exoneration

Most exoneration cases are from faulty eyewitnesses.

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Examples

  • Director Rob Warden estimates there are about 50 exonerations each year from both DNA and non-DNA cases.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The exoneration of the wrongfully accused man brought relief to his family.

  • I want complete exoneration for Dodge and myself.

  • As a result of her findings, Vollen helped launch the Life After Exoneration program in 2002.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The speaker has an agenda that centers on his own exoneration, his own salvation.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • With the advent of DNA analysis of physical evidence, the rate of post-conviction exoneration increased during the 1990s.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The subjects of those investigations were notified of their exoneration, but the cases are now being reviewed for possible prosecution again.

    Academic text (2010)
  • After exoneration, Roland Gibson, who was convicted of killing a taxi driver in 1968, was released.

    Academic text (2011)
  • After decades, an old wound was tended to, a formal apology, an admission of guilt and an exoneration of previously blamed victims.

  • After years of legal battles, her exoneration finally proved her innocence.

Synonyms

acquittal
vsexoneration
41 7.1

An official court decision that a person is not guilty of a crime

is an official clearance that can occur beyond a court ruling
vindication
vsexoneration
29 7.4

Proof that shows someone was right or not to blame after people doubted them

focuses instead on formal recognition of being officially freed from blame
rehabilitation
vsexoneration
  • Formal
8 5.2

Making people trust someone again after their reputation was damaged

is specifically the official act of being declared free of blame
purge
vsexoneration
1 7.9

An act of clearing someone of blame or suspicion

is the formal acceptance that the person has no responsibility
purging
vsexoneration
1 7.4

Clearing someone of blame or shame

is the institutional declaration that the person is not responsible
clearing
vsexoneration
1 6.0

Removing doubt about someone so they are not blamed anymore

adds formal, official status to that removal of doubt
exculpation
vsexoneration
  • Formal
1 9.9

The act of clearing someone from blame

is an official act of being formally freed from blame
purgation
vsexoneration
  • Formal
9.9

An act that clears someone from blame or suspicion

applies specifically as an official state granted by authority

How Cleared

exoneration
  • Formal
10 7.9
vindication
29 7.4
clearing
1 6.0
investigation
2.9
charge
  • Formal
6.0
accusation
394 3.1

Surface Forms

exoneration singular
exonerations plural

Morphology

exoneration = exonerate (transparent) = exonerate + ation

Standard nominalization of the verb 'exonerate' with the suffix '-ation', yielding the act or result of exonerating.

Etymology

Exoneration comes from Latin parts ex- ('out of') and onus ('burden'), the same root behind the English word onerous meaning 'burdensome'. So an exoneration is like taking a heavy burden off someone — it means being officially cleared of blame.