What is another word for venial?

Pronunciation: [vˈiːnɪəl] (IPA)

Venial is an adjective that describes a sin or an offense that is not considered serious enough to cause moral harm. Synonyms for venial include pardonable, excusable, forgivable, minor, trivial, petty, slight, and insignificant. All these words imply that the transgression is of a minor nature, and it is easy to overlook. These terms are often used in the context of religious confessions, where a person confesses their sins to a priest, who then absolves them. Venial sins are distinct from mortal sins, which are considered major offenses that can lead to eternal damnation. In everyday usage, venial can also describe a minor fault or mistake that is forgivable and easily overlooked.

Synonyms for Venial:

What are the hypernyms for Venial?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

What are the opposite words for venial?

The antonyms of the word "venial" are "unforgivable," "heinous," and "atrocious." These words indicate the gravity of the offense committed, and suggest a level of wrongdoing that is not merely excusable or forgivable. Using any of these antonyms for "venial" implies that the misdeed is significant and has lasting consequences. While "venial" describes a lapse in judgment or a minor error, its opposites denote a grave transgression that can harm individuals or society as a whole. By contrasting "venial" with its antonyms, one can highlight the degree of culpability involved and recognize the severity of the situation.

What are the antonyms for Venial?

Usage examples for Venial

At the same time, convinced such a deviation can seldom be tolerated, there can only be pleaded the opportunity of extending some knowledge of two unique copies: the now almost "olden" venial transgression of him who will, probably, continue sinning, until the forced guest to banquet with the doctor and his associate.
"A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume I."
R. Dodsley
We attempted to convey by our silence that Mr. Strangways' single fault was a trifling, a venial one.
"Merry-Garden and Other Stories"
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
He remarked that it was considered a very venial sin for a regular priest to say two masses in one day for the sake of earning two carlini more, but that for the same sin a secular priest would deserve to be burnt at the stake.
"The Memoires of Casanova, Complete The Rare Unabridged London Edition Of 1894, plus An Unpublished Chapter of History, By Arthur Symons"
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

Famous quotes with Venial

  • Such sins, even if they do not kill all grace in us, do harm, nevertheless; and though they are only venial in themselves, they make us apt, ready, and inclined to lose grace and to fall into mortal sin.
    Johannes Tauler
  • Marital intercourse is certainly holy, lawful and praiseworthy in itself and profitable to society, yet in certain circumstances it can prove dangerous, as when through excess the soul is made sick with venial sin, or through the violation and perversion of its primary end, killed by mortal sin; such perversion, detestable in proportion to its departure from the true order, being always mortal sin, for it is never lawful to exclude the primary end of marriage which is the procreation of children.
    Francis de Sales
  • …the sin of gluttony, also the sin of lecherous intent toward an honourable and high-placed matron….But more sin is to come, and that sin a double one, namely of lechery in act, perhaps venial in the young but by no means to be condoned, and of adultery, which Saint John saith shall be punished by fire for the act and brimstone for the stink of the ordure of the partners in that sin….She is but a heathen….With the instinct of her kind she knoweth the best and most secret places for lechery….thou are bent on sin, the act of darkness….On her breath is no honey but the smell of strong drink, the potent mingling of barley and juniper in deadly ferment….One man is from the Antipodes but, contrary to the superstition of the vulgar, he is like other men….It is he who seeth the cabin where thy lust worketh itself out, he remembereth lewd advice of the charioteer of Cathay….approacheth on tiptoe the sound of beastly gratification….Lust croucheth now above in the rooftree, his wings fearfully foldeth….But in his rage he spareth not her, calling her Jezebel and harlot….
    Anthony Burgess
  • ...whereas the vices of Messalina were in themselves venial, being mostly a passion for sensual gratification which subordinated all things to its encompassing, Agrippina lived solely for power, frightening enough in a man but terrifying in a woman....she would sleep with anyone, though not for physical pleasure, only for political advantage. She was cursed or blessed with a certain sexual coldness, knowing as much as a temple prostitute about the arousing of male passion and the procurement of its ecstatic release but keeping herself aloof, despite an occasional simulation of desire and the odd false orgiastic shudder and scream of fulfilment, from a process she found distressingly bestial when it was not frankly comic.
    Anthony Burgess
  • Not only had they behaved dutifully and without apparent concern for their own safety, but they also offered the hope that not all of the younger male generation were venial, lazy, proud, irreligious, inconsiderate, self-indulgent, weak-willed, and timorous.
    Steve Turner

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