infraction
Americannoun
-
breach; violation; infringement.
an infraction of the rules.
-
Medicine/Medical. an incomplete fracture of a bone.
Related Words
See breach.
Other Word Forms
- noninfraction noun
Etymology
Origin of infraction
First recorded in 1615–25, infraction is from the Latin word infrāctiōn- (stem of infrāctiō ). See infract, -ion
Explanation
When you break school rules about gum chewing, you commit an infraction. An infraction is a petty crime or a minor breaking of rules. When you think of the word infraction, think that your offence has just crossed the line into wrong. Something like a parking ticket is an infraction. When you commit an infraction, you're not knee deep in wrong, you've just dipped your toe into wrong to see what it feels like. A misdemeanor is a more serious crime such as theft, and murder is considered a felony, the most serious of crimes.
Vocabulary lists containing infraction
The Giver
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Give Me a Break!: Fract and Frag
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Tangerine
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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.
Yet images circulated online that seemed to show that granite being grazed by Canadian fingertips, and on Saturday the Swiss men’s team accused Canada of the same infraction.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026
Giving the attacking team an almost guaranteed goal for something can be a really minor infraction by the defender is wildly disproportionate.
From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025
It’s also difficult to imagine how bad, and perhaps how lethal, an infraction by Hegseth would have to be for him to be canned.
From Salon • Aug. 2, 2025
Under constant surveillance, every tiny infraction or misdemeanor becomes actionable.
From Slate • Aug. 22, 2024
They weren’t sure whether what had just happened represented a training infraction or not, but they feared it might.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
