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crime against nature

American  

noun

  1. Law. sodomy.

  2. any act considered to be against the laws or designs of nature or one's religious teachings.

Etymology

Origin of crime against nature

First recorded in 1920–25

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.

"This is a crime against nature," said one campaigner.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2025

To Stevens, that had been a crime against nature, deeply wrong and unforgivable.

From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2021

The fires in the Amazon remind us this is not just a crime against nature but a crime against humanity.

From The Guardian • Aug. 25, 2019

That Bradley has never been the subject of a major biography by a writer of Krist’s caliber is the real crime against nature.

From Washington Post • May 18, 2018

If it is not so, and if man is by nature evil, he cannot cease to be evil without corrupting his nature, and goodness in him is a crime against nature.

From Emile by Rousseau, Jean-Jacques

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.