transgression
Americannoun
noun
-
a breach of a law, etc; sin or crime
-
the act or an instance of transgressing
Related Words
See breach.
Other Word Forms
- nontransgression noun
Etymology
Origin of transgression
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin trānsgressiōn-, stem of trānsgressiō “passage across, transition, violation”; equivalent to transgress + -ion
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.
In L.A. political circles, however, it will be viewed as a transgression, at least in the short term, he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2026
His pairing of white socks and yellow Crocs stood out as a particular stylistic transgression.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025
A second transgression for Van der Mescht on 50 minutes, when he went high on a dipping Boeta Chamberlain, earned a second yellow and a 20-minute red to give a second window for Red Bulls.
From BBC • Oct. 17, 2025
Bondi’s latest ethical transgression has not yet made it to court, but it likely will.
From Salon • Jun. 5, 2025
Sometimes I play with the fantasy that I am a princess who, in penance for some tiny transgression, has undertaken to feed each of her subjects by hand.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
