as in pardonable
worthy of forgiveness
taking the restaurant's menu as a souvenir seems like a venial offense
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Examples of venial in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This would have encouraged him at sensitive ages and times in his life to seriously think about the distinctions between sins of omission and sins of commission, between white lies and perjury, between venial and mortal sins, and the relationship between knowledge, intention, and guilt.
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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
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
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'venial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near venial
Cite this Entry
“Venial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/venial. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
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