transgress
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to pass over or go beyond (a limit, boundary, etc.).
to transgress bounds of prudence.
-
to go beyond the limits imposed by (a law, command, etc.); violate; infringe.
to transgress the will of God.
- Synonyms:
- disobey, contravene
- Antonyms:
- obey
verb
-
to break (a law, rule, etc)
-
to go beyond or overstep (a limit)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
transgressornoun
-
nontransgressiveadjective
-
transgressiveadjective
-
untransgressedadjective
-
nontransgressivelyadverb
-
transgressivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
transgresssimple
-
transgressessimple
-
have transgressedperfect
-
has transgressedperfect
-
am transgressingprogressive
-
are transgressingprogressive
-
is transgressingprogressive
-
have been transgressingperfect progressive
-
has been transgressingperfect progressive
Past
-
transgressedsimple
-
had transgressedperfect
-
was transgressingprogressive
-
were transgressingprogressive
-
had been transgressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of transgress
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin trānsgressus (past participle of trānsgredī “to step across”), equivalent to trāns- trans- + -gred- (combining form of gradī “to step”; see grade) + -tus past participle suffix, with dt becoming ss
Explanation
When you go beyond the boundaries, either physically or morally, you transgress. A river will transgress its banks as it floods, and students who cheat transgress school rules. Transgress sounds like and means nearly the same thing as trespass. When you transgress a rule, you're breaking it. Religions often talk about transgressing: for Christians, breaking a commandment is transgressing against God by violating his wishes. Any transgression is pushing through a boundary: like a neighbor transgressing by letting their dog into your yard: that's a physical and a legal type of transgressing. The dog got into your territory, and the owners broke a rule.
Vocabulary lists containing transgress
Antigone
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Twelfth Night
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Vocabulary from the Magna Carta on its 800th Anniversary
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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:
Taking these points together, it becomes clear that the ordinary bounds of judicial review are capacious, and it would be extraordinarily rare for a state court to transgress them.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2024
I’m always fascinated by what society does to allow themselves to do whatever to transgress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
“It could be another previous life, or some harm done to you, or a lack of self-knowledge that makes us transgress on our worldview,” he said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 27, 2022
Before the weekend, race director Michael Masi has highlighted in his event notes clauses in F1's regulations that give governing body the FIA the power to take points off drivers if they transgress.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2021
It soon became clear that there were limits beyond which one could not transgress on the Manhattan.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
The Lib Dem leader said "we need to know... where any MP transgresses the rules".
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
It just said there might be an egregious example “when a state court transgresses the bounds of ordinary judicial review.”
From Salon ● May 11, 2024
“How do you know who you are when your primal love bond is formed with someone who then transgresses and violates it?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2021
In timeouts and during practices, Brooks has shown his more colorful side when the team transgresses his “non-negotiables” — for example, not playing hard.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 22, 2017
And the only way to insure that, is to lock him out at first when he transgresses.
From Trevlyn Hold by Wood, Mrs. Henry
"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
Battle lines are drawn and immediately transgressed in a play that takes farce out of the bedroom and into administrative corridors and cubicles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
Some of the breakfast sandwiches transgressed in ruinous ways: served with aggressively flavored aioli, served on a bagel out of a plastic bag, served with arugula, which, friends, only gets distressingly wilty-slimy in this format.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
As in Europe, those persecuted as witches in the colonies were commonly poor and marginalized, but women who transgressed Puritan behavioral norms or who attained wealth or property were also at risk.
From Scientific American ● May 31, 2023
She doubted whether she had not transgressed the duty of woman by woman, in betraying her suspicions of Jane Fairfax’s feelings to Frank Churchill.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
“Already in that early school exercise, he was transgressing all the principles that we knew.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2024
The move involved no stepping on necks and no transgressing of hierarchies and Lee had plenty of support, but when it came time to vote on her promotion, she was outmaneuvered.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2024
On the other hand, with “Alice Sadie Celine,” we are not talking about transgressing the long-gone mores of the 1950s and ’60s.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2023
The lawsuit also claims that Chop’t did not dispute the fine, which was for transgressing a rule that food service establishments must “operate their premises in such a way as to avoid imminent health hazards.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
Any member of an affiliated club transgressing Clause XI. would unquestionably render himself liable to suspension under Clause VIII. of the Constitution.
From Rowing by Lehmann, Rudolf Chambers
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.
