generational curse
Family's recurring misfortune
A generational curse is a pattern of misfortune, dysfunction, or sin believed to pass down through family lines—often rooted in religious traditions where ancestral wrongdoing brings consequences upon descendants.
The concept appears in discussions of cycles of abuse, addiction, or poverty: She was determined to break the generational curse of alcoholism in her family.
Sometimes used loosely for any recurring family pattern, whether attributed to spiritual forces, inherited trauma, or learned behavior.
- cycle of abuseSelf-perpetuating harm dynamic
- dysfunctional familyRelatives with harmful dynamics
- hereditaryPassed through generations
- blood guiltMoral stain from killing
- bad bloodLasting hostile feelings
sins of the father · karma · epigenetics · inheritance · passed down · affliction · fatalism · violence · filial piety · moral decay · blood feud · ritual cleansing · psychopathy · betrayal · intangible · familial conflict · family secret · blighted
- curseshex, hexes, jinx, jinxes, damn
- dark magicblack magic, dark magic, sorcery, witchcraft, dark arts
generational cursefamily blessing
Favor invoked upon kin
birthright · family inheritance · patrimony · generational wealth · family legacy
generational curseintergenerational trauma
Inherited psychological harm
generation, generational, generations, generate, generates, generated, generating, generator, generators