total depravity
noun
Simple meaning
A doctrine, one of the Five Points of Calvinism, that all human action is tainted by original sin.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tohtuhldihpravuhteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtoʊtəldɪpˈɹævəti
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
christianitytheology
A doctrine, one of the Five Points of Calvinism, that all human action is tainted by original sin.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A doctrine, one of the Five Points of Calvinism, that all human action is tainted by original sin.
Used this way, total depravity is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- 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.
Share your sentence
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “total depravity” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.