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Glite Dictionary
to wash oneself of

to wash oneself of

4 7.7
To get rid of feelings like guilt or blame
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : liberarse de
  • We decided to wash our hands of the project after it failed to meet our expectations.
  • wash our hands of

Examples

  • But how can we wash our hands of something we don't know exists?

    Academic text (1998)

  • Henry, I'm washing my hands of the whole matter.

    Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

  • You can wash your hands of them, shrug, and say, "Oh, well..."

    Blog text (16)

  • Not voting or voting for some protest candidate doesn't allow anyone to wash their hands of that choice.

    Blog text (8)

  • He is sick in his head, with an out-of-control ego, and her family is wise and right to wash their hands of this.

    Blog text (16)

  • She had washed her hands of Donnie Ray Grimes, or whatever name he chose to call himself.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • After the scandal broke, the politician tried to wash his hands of the entire situation.

  • The company wanted to wash its hands of the incident, claiming it was not responsible for the actions of its employees.

Synonyms

to cleanse
vsto wash oneself of
  • Formal
73 4.8

Make a person or place free from unwanted feelings such as guilt

focuses on ridding oneself of blame and feelings, not places or things
to shake off
vsto wash oneself of
41 3.6

Make something unwanted go away, like an illness, a feeling, or a person following you

is specific to guilt, blame, responsibility, or negative feelings rather than any unwanted thing
to purge
vsto wash oneself of
30 7.0

To clear someone of blame or guilt

includes personal guilt and responsibility rather than only legal clearing
to wash one's hands of
vsto wash oneself of
  • Informal
8 6.7

Stop being involved and refuse to take responsibility for someone or something

focuses on clearing guilt and inner feelings rather than ending involvement
to wash one's hands
vsto wash oneself of
  • Informal
3 6.3

Refuse to take the blame for a problem

aims to rid personal guilt or negative feelings rather than deny responsibility
to wash one's brain out with soap
vsto wash oneself of
  • Informal
1 9.9

To try to get rid of bad pictures or thoughts in your mind after something upsetting

targets guilt, blame, or responsibility rather than informal cleansing of thoughts

Antonyms

to take responsibility
193 3.3

To admit you caused a problem and accept the blame

How Free

to exonerate
  • Formal
129 8.2
absolved
  • Formal
6.0
to wash oneself of
4 7.7
to rid of
∞ 3.0

Surface Forms

wash oneself of infinitive
washed oneself of past
washed oneself of past participle
washing oneself of present participle
washes oneself of third person singular

Morphology

wash + oneself + of

The meaning is a metaphorical extension of 'wash' (to clean) applied reflexively — i.e., to 'clean oneself of' blame or guilt — and the preposition 'of' marks the thing removed. Although the constituents give a plausible inference, the shift from physical cleaning to removing responsibility is idiomatic enough that a B1 learner may not reliably predict it without prior exposure.

Etymology

Wash oneself of comes from the simple image of washing away dirt: to wash is to clean your hands or body so the dirt is gone. So when someone says they want to wash themselves of 'guilt' or 'blame', they mean they want to get rid of those bad feelings or that responsibility.