innocents
Those without fault
Innocents is the plural of innocent used as a noun—people who are blameless, naive, or uninvolved in wrongdoing.
The word often appears in contexts of violence or injustice: The bombing killed dozens of innocents.
It can also describe the naive or guileless: fresh-faced innocents arriving in the big city.
The Massacre of the Innocents refers to the biblical slaughter of infants by King Herod.
Divinely pure and good
- cherubicInnocently sweet-faced
- sinlessFree from moral wrongdoing
- saintlyMorally pure, devout
- seraphicAngelically pure and beautiful
virtuous · uncorrupted · wholesome · immaculate · spotless · untainted · unblemished · chaste
Not at fault
- exoneratedCleared of wrongdoing
- acquittedDeclared legally innocent
- faultlessFree from any defect
- irreproachableImpossible to criticize
unimpeachable · cleared · vindicated · absolved · blameless · not guilty · above suspicion · clean-handed
Those killed or wounded
- scapegoatsThose blamed for others
- martyrsThose killed for convictions
- collateral damageUnintended harm from military action
- preyAnimal being hunted
targets · sufferers · persecuted · defenseless · vulnerable · helpless · exploited · abused
Easily deceived
- credulousProne to blind trust
- trustingInclined to believe others
- unsuspectingNot anticipating danger
- unworldlyLacking practical awareness
ingenuous · unsophisticated · guileless · unaware · inexperienced · wide-eyed · simple · artless
Very young children
- infantsVery young children
- little onesAffectionate term for children
- youngstersPeople not yet adult
- minorsThose below legal age
youth · toddlers · tots · cherubs · waifs · orphans · urchins · foundlings
angelic
Divinely pure and good
seraphic · virtuous · uncorrupted · wholesome · immaculate · spotless · untainted · unblemished · chaste · virginal
guiltless
Not at fault
- exoneratedCleared of wrongdoing
- acquittedDeclared legally innocent
- faultlessFree from any defect
irreproachable · unimpeachable · cleared · vindicated · absolved · blameless · not guilty · above suspicion · clean-handed · free from blame
casualties
Those killed or wounded
- scapegoatsThose blamed for others
- martyrsThose killed for convictions
- collateral damageUnintended harm from military action
prey · targets · sufferers · persecuted · defenseless · vulnerable · helpless · exploited · abused · wronged
gullible
Easily deceived
- credulousProne to blind trust
- trustingInclined to believe others
- unsuspectingNot anticipating danger
unworldly · ingenuous · unsophisticated · guileless · unaware · inexperienced · wide-eyed · simple · artless · green
babes
Very young children
- infantsVery young children
- little onesAffectionate term for children
- youngstersPeople not yet adult
minors · youth · toddlers · tots · cherubs · waifs · orphans · urchins · foundlings · newborns
- easy targetssuckers, dupes, marks, patsies, rubes
- character typesprotagonist, hero, antagonist, villain, heroes
- Nuclearnuclear reactor, atomic bomb, nuclear energy, atomic bombs, uranium
innocentsculprits
Those at fault
perpetrators · offenders · criminals · wrongdoers · sinners
innocentsvillains
Evil characters in narratives
evildoers · reprobates · degenerates · scoundrels · devils
innocentssophisticates
Worldly, cultured individuals
cynics · worldly-wise · veterans · old hands · streetwise
- innocent bystanderUninvolved person harmed incidentally
- loss of innocenceEnd of childhood naivety
- innocent man
- childhood innocenceUntainted early-life simplicity
- innocent as a lambUtterly free from wrongdoing
- guilty or innocentCriminal trial outcomes