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What's the difference between venal and venial?
If you are given the choice between acts that are venal and those that are venial, go for the venial. Although the two words look and sound alike, they have very different meanings and histories. Venal demonstrates the adage that anything can be had if the price is high enough and the morals are low enough. That word originated with the Latin venum, which simply referred to something that was sold or for sale. Some of those transactions must have been rather shady because by the mid-1600s, venal had gained the sense of corruption it carries today. Venial sins, on the other hand, are pardonable, the kind that show that everyone makes mistakes sometimes. That forgiving term descends from venia, Latin for "favor," "indulgence," or "pardon."
Examples of venial in a Sentence
Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 5 Mar. 2021
But logging off—and returning to the sphere in which people are apt to forgive one another for venial affronts—is no longer an option.
—Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2022
And that loyalty has been reciprocated with job security and forgiveness of venial sins.
—cleveland, 12 Dec. 2021
The list is long of international companies, and even celebrities, who’ve groveled in apology for sins as venial as recognizing Taiwan.
—Kevin T. Dugan, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2021
This is, of course, the day-to-day venial reality for attorneys who don’t prosecute serial killers, and Saul can always extrapolate small crimes into tall tales.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 18 June 2020
Taibbi favors a cynical style evenly applied across the universe of real and perceived journalistic trespasses, challenging a reader to sort mortal from venial.
—Ann Marie Lipinski, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2019
His presence was more difficult to justify than the venial offenses of Spygate or Deflategate.
—BostonGlobe.com, 22 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Venial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venial. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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venial
adjective
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