venial

V4E1N1I1A1L1
/ˈviːni.əl/

adjective

Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.

“His venial youthful indiscretions.”

Similar
pardonableexcusableforgivableminor
Opposite
unvenialunforgivablemortal
OriginOld French venial ← Late Latin veniālem ← Latin venia →
UncommonScrabble 9
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivevenial (comparative more venial, superlative most venial)

comparative more venial · superlative most venial

  1. Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.

    He did not say that he should favour such an attempt; But he did say that such an attempt would be venial.

    1826, [Mary Shelley], The Last Man. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC

    Synonyms: pardonable, excusable, forgivable · Antonyms: unvenial, unforgivable

    1. especiallyoftenWorthy of forgiveness because trifling (trivial).

      His venial youthful indiscretions.

      Synonyms: pardonable, excusable, forgivable · Antonyms: unvenial, unforgivable

  2. lifestyleNot causing spiritual death.

    Antonyms: mortal

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveAble to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.

Similar
pardonableexcusableforgivable
Opposite
unvenialunforgivable

adjectiveWorthy of forgiveness because trifling (trivial).

Similar
pardonableexcusableforgivable
Opposite
unvenialunforgivable

adjectiveNot causing spiritual death.

Opposite
mortal

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivewarranting only temporal punishment

Similar
minorpardonable

adjectiveeasily excused or forgiven

Similar
excusableforgivablepardonable
Also see
excusableforgivableminorpardonable

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinvenia“forgiveness”
  2. Late Latinveniālem“pardonable”
  3. Old Frenchvenial
  4. Englishvenial

From Old French venial, borrowed from Late Latin veniālem (“pardonable”), from Latin venia (“forgiveness”).

More words from Old French, Late Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian дребен, простим
  • дребен (dreben)excusable; trifling
  • простим (prostim)pardonable; able to be forgiven
French véniel, véniel
  • vénielnot causing spiritual death
  • vénielpardonable; able to be forgiven
German lässlich, läßlich
  • lässlichpardonable; able to be forgiven
  • läßlichpardonable; able to be forgiven
Hungarian megbocsátható, elnézhető
  • megbocsáthatóexcusable; trifling
  • elnézhetőexcusable; trifling
  • bocsánatospardonable; able to be forgiven
Icelandic fyrirgefanlegur, afsakanlegur
  • fyrirgefanlegurpardonable; able to be forgiven
  • afsakanlegurpardonable; able to be forgiven
Italian veniale
  • venialepardonable; able to be forgiven
Polish wybaczalny, przebaczalny
  • wybaczalnyexcusable; trifling
  • przebaczalnyexcusable; trifling
  • wybaczalnypardonable; able to be forgiven
  • przebaczalnypardonable; able to be forgiven
  • lekkipardonable; able to be forgiven
Portuguese perdoável, venial
  • perdoávelexcusable; trifling
  • venialexcusable; trifling
  • perdoávelpardonable; able to be forgiven
  • venialpardonable; able to be forgiven
Spanish venial, venial
  • venialexcusable; trifling
  • venialpardonable; able to be forgiven

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

valineLavinealvineveinalalevinlevainvineal
Cite this entry
APA

venial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/venial

MLA

“venial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/venial. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “venial,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/venial.

Source: venial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.