amnesty
Other forms: amnestied; amnesties
Amnesty can mean a pardon for a wrongdoing, or it can also signal a government's willingness to overlook something.
Amnesty sounds a little like "amnesia," and that's because in its more specific sense amnesty means "forgetting." The government will essentially forget about whatever crime was committed, or whatever horrible things were said. As part of a truce, amnesty can be granted to opposition forces in civil disputes. Amnesty to illegal aliens means the government will deliberately overlook their illegal entry to the country. There can also be a period of amnesty when people can turn in something that they would otherwise get in trouble for. "The city offered a period of amnesty for everyone to turn in illegal guns."
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a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense
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the formal act of liberating someone
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synonyms:
free pardon, pardon
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type of:
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clemency, mercifulness, mercy
leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
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clemency, mercifulness, mercy
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a period during which offenders are exempt from punishment
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grant a pardon to (a group of people)
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type of:
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pardon
grant a pardon to
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pardon
/ˈæmnɪsɾi/
/ˈæmnɪsti/
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A paragraph of text
Copy citationVocabulary lists containing amnesty
This book explores the Black Panther Party's origins and the lasting impacts that the organization's community activism has had on America's ongoing fight for racial justice.
This nonfiction work delves into the history and legacy of the Tulsa Massacre — one of American history's deadliest acts of racial violence that took place in Oklahoma in 1921.
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