sin
noun
transgression of divine law.
sin
1 American
[sin]
/ sɪn /
noun
-
transgression of divine law.
the sin of Adam.
-
any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.
- Synonyms:
- wickedness, wrong
-
any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse, etc.; great fault or offense.
It's a sin to waste time.
verb (used without object)
sins,
present (3rd person singular)
sinned,
past participle, past
sinning
present participle
-
to commit a sinful act.
- Synonyms:
- trespass, transgress
-
to offend against a principle, standard, etc.
verb (used with object)
sins,
present (3rd person singular)
sinned,
past participle, past
sinning
present participle
-
to commit or perform sinfully.
He sinned his crimes without compunction.
-
to bring, drive, etc., by sinning.
He sinned his soul to perdition.
sin
2
American
[seen]
/ sin /
noun
-
the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
-
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
sin
3
American
abbreviation
Trigonometry.
sīn
4
American
[seen]
/ sin /
noun
Sin
5
American
[seen]
/ sin /
noun
SIN
1
British
abbreviation
sin
2
British
/ siːn /
noun
sin
3
British
/ sɪn /
preposition
sin
4
British
/ sɪn /
noun
-
theol
-
transgression of God's known will or any principle or law regarded as embodying this
-
the condition of estrangement from God arising from such transgression See also actual sin mortal sin original sin venial sin
-
-
any serious offence, as against a religious or moral principle
-
any offence against a principle or standard
-
informal (of an unmarried couple) to live together
verb
-
theol to commit a sin
-
(usually foll by against) to commit an offence (against a person, principle, etc)
sin
5
British
/ saɪn /
abbreviation
sin
Scientific
sin
Idioms
Synonym Usage
See crime.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sinsimple
-
sinssimple
-
have sinnedperfect
-
has sinnedperfect
-
am sinningprogressive
-
are sinningprogressive
-
is sinningprogressive
-
have been sinningperfect progressive
-
has been sinningperfect progressive
Past
-
sinnedsimple
-
had sinnedperfect
-
was sinningprogressive
-
were sinningprogressive
-
had been sinningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sin1
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun sinne, sin(e), sen(ne), Old English syn(n) “moral or religious offense, misdeed”; akin to German Sünde, Old Norse synd, Latin sōns (inflectional stem sont- ) “guilty,” literally “that man being the one”; the verb is derivative of the noun; the Germanic and Latin forms all being present participle forms of the root es- “to be”; see origin at am ( def. )
Origin of sin2
First recorded in 1895–1900; from Hebrew śīn
Origin of sīn4
From Arabic
Explanation
You might not want to be the one at the party who takes the last piece of cake, but then again, it would be a sin to let it sit there, uneaten. A sin is a deeply regrettable action. The most common definition of sin is religious: it's an immoral act against God or divine law. Any serious offense, even if it's not religious, can be called a sin, and so can something less serious if you're talking about it in a joking way, as in, "You've got to buy those shoes — it would be an absolute sin not to." In math, sin is the abbreviation of sine, the trigonometric function.
Vocabulary lists containing sin
"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks
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"The New England Primer"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She had converted to Catholicism in the 1990s, telling The Times: "To have a church which calls a sin a sin and has done with it is a blessed relief."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
On a recent episode of What Next, Lizzie O’Leary spoke to Nagle about how America’s original sin is written into who we are today.
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2026
To him it was a sin not to shear the sheep.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
“Grantchester” may be ending, but “Father Brown” endures because its homilies champion the belief that good exists in everybody, even in the hearts of those who commit mortal sin.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
“Petey Thunkle did not use his time wisely. Not a grave sin in itself. But, there was a single critical moment that changed everything. Would you care to hear about it?”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
The present participle with sīn is sometimes used as in English, see ‘Arme Heinrich,’ l. 24.
From A Middle High German Primer Third Edition by Wright, Joseph
Sigvaldi jarl lēt skotta við sīn skip, ok lagði ekki til orrostu.
From Icelandic Primer with Grammar, Notes and Glossary by Sweet, Henry
En er hǫfðingjar rœddu þetta milli sīn, sem nū er sagt, þā sā þeir, hvar sigldu þrjū skip all-mikil, ok fjōrða sīðast, ok var þat Ormrinn langi.
From Icelandic Primer with Grammar, Notes and Glossary by Sweet, Henry
Dō brāhte man die vrouwen dā si in ligen vant. si huop sīn schœne houbet mit ir vil wīȥen hant; dō kuste s’ alsō tōten den edelen ritter guot.
From A Middle High German Primer Third Edition by Wright, Joseph
Sine, sīn, n. a straight line drawn from one extremity of an arc perpendicular to the diameter that passes through the other extremity.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
She no longer has contacts she can reach in Sittwe, or in Sin Tet Maw, the Arakan Army-controlled village from where the boats departed.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Thousands who flew into Sin City on the insurer’s dime were treated to a Pink concert, a Jimmy Fallon-led singalong and selfies with the “Jake from State Farm” actor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
But analysts are growing more confident in a Las Vegas comeback, and MGM also isn’t as dependent on Sin City as some competitors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Primm was once one of Nevada’s more popular gambling resorts, a less expensive, slightly more kitschy alternative to Las Vegas that benefited from being closer than Sin City.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
I was uninjured, and since pride is a Deadly Sin which I feel I generally eschew, absolutely nothing was hurt.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Pura Casilla, the governor of San Cristobal province, told Noticias SIN that the explosion occurred in a commercial area and greatly affected businesses near the town center.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
The description for the folder Correspondence SIN reads:
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2017
On most calculators, you will need to push the 2ND button and then the SIN button to bring up the function.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015
SIN does not have preferential booking at any studios.
From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2014
"Black Hand over Europe" by Henri Pozzi, 1935 THE SIN Yugoslavia was born in sin and in sin it perished.
From Terrorists and Freedom Fighters by Vaknin, Samuel
In a novel full of insufferable characters interfering with romantic soulmates, Mary commits the sins of both pedantry and priggishness.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Clash of Nations” puts enormous emphasis on the state of race relations in the America of Joe Louis—Delbert Hunt’s earnest narration recounts a lot of sins that probably don’t need quite the breathless review.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
"If you list my sins, I sound like the worst person on Earth," he said in a TED interview in 2022.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Those are the three deadly sins of trading.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
Father Byrnes went on to discuss the difference between mortal and venial sins.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
Eve then offers the fruit to Adam, and, having both sinned, they realize their nakedness, are ashamed and make clothing.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
After listing all those for whom she writes — “for the sinned against and the sanctifying” — Perry called for unity in difficult times:
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2022
Miss Manners also wonders who has been sinned against in this case, if your mother is, as she appears to be, the hostess and perhaps also the owner of the establishment.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2022
“I have sinned, I’ve broken the law and I have no excuses,” Kreuper said via teleconference.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
It was later to become his proud testimony that he hated his sins—even as he ran towards sin, even as he sinned.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
Crusaders came to expect standard privileges like the indulgence, a means to reduce the penance owed for sinning by giving money directly to the church or paying for masses or other clerical services.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
He insists he is a man more sinned against than sinning and is working with lawyers to clear his name.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2021
I’ve been oppressed by all these facts and evidence that dinned against My simple claim that I am not more sinning than I’m sinned against.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2021
And as he tells The Envelope, he’s not interested in examining or lingering on his past roles, but he does have a lot to say about religion, taking things seriously, and sinning with bread.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2020
I never sinning I always winning Now I got Jesus.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
