What does incriminated mean?
Incriminated is the past tense and past participle of incriminate, a verb meaning to implicate someone in wrongdoing or cause them to appear guilty. It is used especially in legal and news reporting, as in “the evidence incriminated the defendant,” and in forms such as “an incriminating witness” or “he was incriminated by his own statements.” The word can refer both to the formal consequence of evidence and to the broader act of involving someone in blame or suspicion. It is more accusatory and more specific than words such as involved or suspected: incriminated suggests a meaningful connection to an alleged crime or misconduct. In law, however, a statement or piece of evidence that appears incriminating is not necessarily conclusive proof of guilt, and the term does not itself establish that the person committed the offense.
verbPast tense and past participle of incriminate, meaning to give evidence or information that causes someone to appear guilty of wrongdoing. It can also mean to involve someone in or expose someone to blame.
- Past tense of incriminate: to cause someone to appear guilty of a crime or wrongdoing.
- Past participle of incriminate: describing a person who has been implicated or exposed to blame.
- Used in the passive or as a participle, to indicate that someone or something has been involved in wrongdoing or made to seem guilty.
"The testimony incriminated the suspect in the investigation."
"The witness's statement incriminated the two men."
"Rather than incriminating her colleague, she disclosed the error herself."
A single piece of evidence can incriminate a person, but the legal meaning also requires that it genuinely connect that person to the alleged wrongdoing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does incriminated come from?
The word comes from the Latin verb incrimiare, formed from in- (“into” or “upon”) and criminari (“to accuse” or “to charge with a crime”), with the noun crimen, meaning “crime.” English adopted the form in the 17th century in the sense of charging or implicating someone in a crime. The related word incriminate preserves the same root, while crime, criminal, and criminology reflect its broader family.
Related word forms
How incriminated is actually used
Common in legal, journalistic, and formal contexts. It usually implies that evidence or information connects someone to wrongdoing, although the connection may be disputed or later disproved.
Easily confused with incriminated
Incriminated describes someone who has been made to appear guilty or implicated, while incriminating describes evidence, statements, or actions that tend to implicate someone.