Failing
Failing noun - A defect in character.
Usage example: we could talk about your failings, but it would take all night
Sin
Sin noun - A defect in character.
Usage example: my besetting sin is impatience—I hate to wait for anything
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
| human | human failing | human sin |
| particular | particular failing | particular sin |
| common | common failing | common sin |
| specific | specific failing | specific sin |
| Other adjectives: true, actual, real, big, little, terrible, main, personal, ultimate, new, major, past, minor, extra, worst, last, greatest, different, unspecified, primal, biggest. | ||
Both words in one sentence
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Early papal creeds against the sin mostly classified it as knowing the right thing and failing to do it.
Source: Seven Deadly Sins -
In practice, failing to be good enough at seeing that there is no physical world is not a sin, so members are allowed to seek medical help as a second resort.
Source: Useful Notes / Christianity -
Subverted in Natasha, where the vicar is dark-haired and handsome and makes love to his wife so noisily that their daughter in the adjacent room hides her head under a pillow, and where a woman with adulterous ambitions tries (and failing) to lure him into sin.
Source: The Vicar
Cite this Source
Sin and Failing. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/failing/sin
Failing & Sin. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/failing/sin>.
Sin or Failing. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/failing/sin.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "failing" and "sin" have occurred on timeline