deadly sins

American

plural noun

the seven sins of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

deadly sins British

plural noun

theol the sins of pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What are the seven deadly sins? Originating in Christian theology, the seven deadly sins are pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and wrath. Pride is sometimes referred to as vanity or vainglory, greed as avarice or covetousness, and wrath as anger. Gluttony covers self-indulgent excess more generally, including drunkenness.

Etymology

Origin of deadly sins

1300–50; Middle English deedly synnes

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.

“Of the seven deadly sins, all but sloth emerge from the seduction that beckons.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2024

Gluttony is one of Christianity’s seven deadly sins.

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2024

Each cone represents one of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 22, 2023

Seven is also a holy figure: it’s the number of sacraments and deadly sins.

From National Geographic • Jul. 26, 2023

I ran the last twenty yards or so, even though running in the halls is one of the deadly sins at Camillo Junior High, right up there with pride, envy, wrath.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023