Synonyms of transgression

transgression

noun

tran(t)s-ˈgre-shən 

1

as in violation

a breaking of a moral or legal code

acts that are transgressions against the laws of civilized societies everywhere

Synonyms & Similar Words

• violation
• crime
• sin
• felony
• trespass
• wrongdoing
• misdeed
• sinfulness
• error
• breach
• debt
• offense
• lawbreaking
• malefaction
• misdoing
• misconduct
• infringement
• misdemeanor
• misfeasance
• hate crime
• wickedness
• abuse
• corruption
• immorality
• fault
• iniquity
• criminality
• bias crime
• illegality
• peccadillo
• licentiousness
• unlawfulness
• foible
• depravity
• vice
• debauchery
• lawlessness
• break
• downfall
• iniquitousness
• fall
• descent

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• innocence
• blamelessness
• righteousness
• virtue
• morality
• impeccability
• goodness
• noncrime
• guiltlessness
• faultlessness
• virtuousness
• irreproachability

2

as in infringement

a failure to uphold the requirements of law, duty, or obligation

a dying woman asking for divine forgiveness for a lifetime of transgressions

Synonyms & Similar Words

• violation
• infringement
• breach
• infraction
• trespass
• contravention
• sin
• offense
• misconduct
• misdemeanor
• disregard
• ignoring
• forgetting
• neglect
• misfeasance
• intrusion
• wrong
• invasion
• delinquency
• encroachment
• misprision
• nonobservance
• overlooking
• dereliction

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• observance
• respecting
• noninfringement
• upholding

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of transgression

For me, the larger question is not whether artistic behavior excuses transgression, but how to hold artistic achievement and ethical accountability together without allowing one to erase the other. — Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Jantar Mantar, the protest site in Delhi, embodied an aesthetic of collective transgression. — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026

According to Richmond, LeMond’s dietary transgressions didn’t stop at Twinkies. — Tom Campbell, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026

To say Biden has been leaning into his past transgressions and addressing them head-on would be an understatement. — Usa Today, USA Today, 27 July 2026