Phrase guide

mortal sin

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A sin which causes the loss of God's grace, leading to eternal damnation, unless the sinner repents, which includes their intent to confess and atone; such a sin is defined as a grave transgression against one of the Ten Commandments with the full knowledge and deliberate consent of the sinner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: Catholicism, Christianity, Roman-Catholicism, lifestyle, religion, theology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: venial sin

2

noun

Meaning 2

an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • theologians list seven mortal sins

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deadly sin

Antonyms: venial sin

Broader terms: sin, sinning

Narrower terms: pride, superbia, envy, invidia, avarice, greed, covetousness, rapacity, avaritia, sloth, laziness, acedia, wrath, anger, ire, ira, gluttony, overeating, gula, lust, luxuria

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: bekatu astun — grave sin
  • Catalan: pecat mortal — grave sin
  • Czech: smrtelný hřích — grave sin
  • Dutch: doodzonde — grave sin
  • Esperanto: morta peko — grave sin
  • Finnish: kuolemansynti — grave sin
  • French: péché grave — grave sin
  • French: péché mortel — grave sin
  • Galician: pecado mortal — grave sin
  • German: Todsünde — grave sin
  • Hungarian: halálos bűn — grave sin
  • Indonesian: dosa berat — grave sin
  • Irish: peaca marfach — grave sin
  • Italian: peccato mortale — grave sin
  • Japanese: 大罪 (taizai) — grave sin
  • Korean: 대죄 (daejoe) — grave sin
  • Luxembourgish: Doudsënn — grave sin
  • Manx: peccah marrooagh — grave sin
  • Polish: grzech śmiertelny — grave sin
  • Polish: grzech ciężki — grave sin
  • Portuguese: pecado mortal — grave sin
  • Romansh: putgà mortal — grave sin
  • Russian: сме́ртный грех (smértnyj grex) — grave sin
  • Scottish Gaelic: peacadh-bàis — grave sin
  • Serbo-Croatian: смртни грије̑х — grave sin
  • Serbo-Croatian: smrtni grijȇh — grave sin
  • Spanish: pecado mortal — grave sin
  • Swedish: dödssynd — grave sin
  • Tagalog: kasalanang mortal — grave sin
  • Tagalog: kasalanang mabigat — grave sin
  • Turkish: büyük günah — grave sin
  • Vietnamese: tội trọng — grave sin
  • Welsh: pechod marwol — grave sin