- exculpate
- exculpate, absolve, exonerate, acquit, vindicate mean to free from a charge or burden.Exculpate implies simply a clearing from blame, often in a matter of small importance{
exculpate oneself from a charge of inconsistency
}{directly Harding was blameless for what was going on. Indirectly he cannot be wholly exculpated— S. H.Adams
}Absolve implies a release, often a formal release, either from obligations or responsibilities that bind the conscience or from the consequences or penalties of their violation{absolve a person from a promise
}{society cannot be absolved of responsibility for its slums
}Exonerate implies relief, often in a moral sense, from what is regarded as a load or burden{no reason for exonerating him [a judge] from the ordinary duties of a citizen— Justice Holmes
}In general exonerate more frequently suggests such relief from a definite charge that not even the suspicion of wrongdoing remains{exonerate a person charged with theft
}Acquit implies a decision in one's favor with reference to a specific charge{acquit a suspect of all participation in a crime
}{you do acquit me then of anything wrong? You are convinced that I never meant to deceive your brother . . . ?— Austen
}Vindicate, unlike the preceding words, may have reference to things as well as to persons that have been subjected to attack, suspicion, censure, or ridicule. As here compared (see also MAINTAIN) it implies a clearing through proof of the injustice or the unfairness of such criticism or blame and the exoneration of the person or the justification of the thing{both his knowledge and his honesty were vindicated when the river was discovered— G. R. Stewart
}{the . . . politicians were vindicated on all counts— Rovere
}Antonyms: inculpate: accuse
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
