moral transgression
Crossing ethical boundaries
A moral transgression is an act that violates ethical principles or standards of right conduct.
The phrase emphasizes crossing a boundary—transgression literally means stepping across.
Unlike legal violations, moral transgressions are judged by conscience or community standards rather than law: The cover-up was a moral transgression worse than the original mistake.
The term often appears in discussions of ethics, religion, and accountability.
- sinViolation of divine law
- deadly sinSoul-destroying moral failing
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- guilty conscienceSelf-blame for wrongdoing
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
crossing the line · crime · cruelty · blood on hands · exploitation · dishonesty · ostracism · shame · injustice · sacrilege · betrayal · remorse · deception · punishment · original sin · stigma · social outcast · corruption
- decadencedecadence, decay, lavishness, aestheticism, dandyism
- religious lawreligious law, canon law, sharia, Islamic law, sacred law
- sexual sinsfornication, adultery, lust, lechery, lewdness
moral transgressionmoral rectitude
Adherence to ethical principles
virtue · ethical behavior · good deed · rule-following · right action
moral transgressiongrace
Effortless beauty of motion
state of grace · sanctity · holiness · piety · absolution
moral, morals, morality, moralist, moralistic, moralize, moralizing, morally, amoral