mortal sin

noun

Updated on: 9 May 2018

Definition of mortal sin

: a sin (such as murder) that is deliberately committed and is of such serious consequence according to Thomist theology that it deprives the soul of sanctifying grace — compare venial sin 1

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Recent Examples of mortal sin from the Web

If giving Pittsburgh power plays is mortal sin No. 1, giving them open ice with 4-on-4s is a close second.

— ed barkowitz, Philly.com, "Flyers penalize themselves in loss to Penguins in NHL playoffs," 15 Apr. 2018
As long as owners aren’t dumb enough to repeat their mortal sin of collusion, players are getting squeezed by a new world order.

— tom verducci, SI.com, "The Free Agent Market is Frozen Because the Players Bargained for Luxury, not Labor," 2 Feb. 2018
This caused confusion among some Catholics, who saw the statements as violating Canon 915 in the Code of Canon Law, which forbids anyone whose soul is in a state of mortal sin from receiving the Eucharist.

— tyler arnold, National Review, "Pope Francis’s Controversial Step on Communion for the Divorced and Remarried," 12 Dec. 2017
In these circumstances, personal device/account use is a venal rather than mortal sin.

— andy wright, Slate Magazine, "Do Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s private email accounts violate the Presidential Records Act?," 10 Oct. 2017
And in Obamaworld, straying outside your lane was a mortal sin.

— katy waldman, Slate Magazine, "This memoir by a former White House speechwriter (and joke writer) is irresistibly charming. It also feels like the setup for a grim cosmic punch line.," 29 Sep. 2017
The house's floor plan in the film is clearly an octagon: assuming one side for the front entry way, there would be seven rooms on the ground floor, each one corresponding to Catholicism's mortal sins.

— eliana dockterman, Time, "An Exhaustive List of all the References We Could Find in Mother!," 15 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mortal sin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of mortal sin

15th century

in the meaning defined above

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MORTAL SIN Defined for English Language Learners

mortal sin

noun

Definition of mortal sin for English Language Learners

in the Roman Catholic Church : a sin (such as murder) that will result in punishment that lasts forever unless the person who has sinned sincerely confesses to God and asks to be forgiven