as in compensatory
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as in acquitting
to free from a charge of wrongdoing
the results of the DNA fingerprinting finally exonerated the man, but only after he had wasted 10 years of his life in prison
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Recent Examples of exonerating
Christian Orozco, NBC news, 8 Oct. 2025
Italy's highest court made the final ruling in 2015, exonerating Knox and Sollecito for good.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Two recent court decisions—one a civil case over an allegedly defective anatomical implant, the other a murder in rural Wisconsin—are the latest in a string of decisions confirming wearables data is fair game and can be pivotal in exposing a wrongdoing or exonerating an innocent person.
—IEEE Spectrum, 27 Sep. 2021
Verb
The Louisiana State Police published new video from the deadly pileup involving LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy, defending its investigation after Lacy's lawyer claimed to have new evidence allegedly exonerating the late college football star.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for exonerating
Verb
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Hank Brennan, a longtime defense attorney famous for representing Bulger, earned $566,000 for his work as special prosecutor in Read’s second murder trial, which ended with a jury acquitting the woman of O’Keefe’s death.—
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The first jury, by contrast, deliberated for days before acquitting Amiri of conspiracy, multiple deprivation-of-rights charges and convicting him of the single dog attack and records falsification.—
Adjective
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In a separate court filing submitted Monday, Cole’s attorneys also demanded broad discovery, including all statements attributed to him, investigative notes, information about the FBI’s use of informants to identify Cole as a suspect, and any exculpatory material.—
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The petition further accuses prosecutors of withholding exculpatory material, including internal FBI notes, grand jury records and information about Epstein’s properties and financial transactions.—
Cite this Entry
“Exonerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exonerating. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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