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
/ 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
2
British
abbreviation
sin
3
British
/ sɪn /
preposition
sin
4
British
/ saɪn /
abbreviation
sin
5
British
/ siːn /
noun
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:
America’s president named Kate to be her sin eater, and occasionally she has to barf up her guilt to keep her prevarications straight.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
"It's the most unimaginable sin possible," he added.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
I wrote a piece for the Atlantic in which I said, “The original sin of AI is granting chatbots the use of the first person.”
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
Before we started calling one another “performative,” Tucker, Brownstein and Phair came from a time when “poser” was the worst insult and sin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
And when Katie came in and lit the gas, chasing the shadows away and paling the light in the stove windows, it was like a great sin that she committed.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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 Joseph Wright
Sī koment underwīlen her die baȥ dā heime möhten sīn.
From A Middle High German Primer Third Edition by Joseph Wright
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 Henry Sweet
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 Joseph Wright
I, sink, 76. sigenunft, sf. victory. sīhte, aj. shallow. silber, sn. silver. sim = si im. sin, sm. sense, mind, feeling; courage. sīn, pr. his; sīn sëlbes, of himself, 5, 11, 67.
From A Middle High German Primer Third Edition by Joseph Wright
It's A Sin actor Callum Scott Howells says his role in a new thriller, set and filmed in Wales, offers "exactly the kind of challenge I love".
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
But the often dysfunctional team in Sin City still didn’t have a coach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Russell T. Davies, the Swansea-born writer behind shows including Doctor Who and Channel 4's It's a Sin, also said online that he "can't wait".
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Over the past two decades, Sin City has cut its water consumption by a third, by promoting wastewater recycling and restricting lawn watering and swimming pool sizes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 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
Ms. Martin’s two-year-old fitness-concierge business, SIN Workouts, recommends and books group fitness classes such as SoulCycle for clients.
From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2014
Yea SIN with SIN a quarrel will maintain, On purpose that thou by it might'st be slain.
From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 02 by John Bunyan
Thomas has spoken publicly about his new-found faith: "I have repented my sins and, under Jesus Christ, I am a new man."
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
But while your brother’s lack of money management appears to have led your mother to make this gesture, it’s also important not to punish his children for the sins of their father.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Catholics are supposed to confess our sins privately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
“The beauty of this narrative was that it not only absolved Jefferson and his fellow slaveholders of their sins; it absolved America as a whole,” Mr. Rasenberger writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Her Bible, some candy, and all the sins of our family.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
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
Even if your daughters are, in some sense, more sinned against than sinning, you could reasonably worry that putting resources in their hands will allow them to support destructive causes.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2022
In religious instruction classes, Sor Juana had told how God clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they had sinned.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
His Adam is aptly named; he’s a biblical kind of hero, sinning and suffering.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2023
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
In both lore and real life, physical differences have been read as warnings of danger, symbols of evil, or evidence of sinning or witchcraft.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2020
She told me about Hell and sinning and how we go to church to learn how to live in God’s image.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
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