mortal sin
noun
Simple meaning
An unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mawrtuhlsinSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɔɹtəlˈsɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Roman Catholicismtheology
An unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace
Roman Catholicismtheology
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.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: An unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace
Used this way, mortal sin is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.