sin tax

noun

: a tax on substances or activities considered sinful or harmful (such as tobacco, alcohol, or gambling)

Examples of sin tax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Separately, the Browns, who still have more than half of their $92 million sin tax allocation remaining, are likely to receive $3.4 million from the City of Cleveland for repairs, cleveland.com reported previously. Lucas Daprile, cleveland, 30 Aug. 2023 The county will pay about $138 million, using bed tax, sin tax and general fund dollars. Lucas Daprile, cleveland, 30 Aug. 2023 However, since the 1990s, the sin tax has struggled to keep pace with stadium upgrades, which often exceed their budget. Lucas Daprile, cleveland, 19 Aug. 2023 About 27% favored an extension of the sin tax to pay for improvements, while about 19% favored raising the tax, if it is needed to pay for construction. Courtney Astolfi, cleveland, 22 Nov. 2022 See all Example Sentences for sin tax 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sin tax.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sin tax was in 1957

Dictionary Entries Near sin tax

Cite this Entry

“Sin tax.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sin%20tax. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on sin tax

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!