sinless

sinless — adjective

1. not guilty of any sin; morally or religiously pure, without having broken divine

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

not guilty of any sin; morally or religiously pure, without having broken divine or ethical rules — for example, a sinless person in certain faith traditions is someone who has never committed a wrong act in the eyes of God.

Example

The priest described the baby as a sinless soul, still untouched by the world's faults.

religious register: describing a soul or spirit

In their tradition, only a sinless person may enter the inner temple.

collocation: sinless person

Common collocations
  • sinless life
  • sinless soul
  • sinless person
  • sinless nature
  • sinless perfection
Synonyms
  • innocent

    broader in scope; can mean not guilty of a crime or simply naive, and is not tied to religion

  • pure

    emphasises moral cleanliness and untainted character; slightly wider in usage

  • blameless

    focuses on not being at fault for a specific action rather than a general state of grace

  • guiltless

    similar to innocent but slightly less formal; used in both legal and moral senses

Antonyms
  • sinful

    direct opposite; describes a person or act that has committed or involves sin

  • guilty

    broader; can refer to legal guilt or moral wrongdoing

  • impure

    in religious contexts, describes someone who is morally or ritually unclean

Usage Note

Heavily tied to religious or moral discourse; uncommon in everyday conversation outside of spiritual, theological, or poetic contexts. In Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, only divine figures or certain holy people are described as sinless.

Common Mistakes

The judge declared the defendant sinless.
The judge declared the defendant innocent.
'sinless' refers to religious or moral sin, not legal guilt.

Word family

  • sinlessly
    adverbC1
  • sinlessness
    nounC1
  • sinful
    adjectiveB2
  • sin
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

While all four words describe freedom from wrongdoing, they differ in scope and tone. 'Sinless' is tied almost exclusively to religious or theological contexts — it means not having broken divine law. 'Innocent' is the broadest term, covering legal, moral, and situational contexts (an innocent bystander, an innocent child). 'Pure' extends beyond sin to suggest moral cleanliness and untainted character, carrying a positive, aspirational tone. 'Blameless' focuses on not being at fault for a specific action rather than a general state of grace. 'Guiltless' is close to 'innocent' but slightly less formal. For example, you might call a saint 'sinless,' a child 'innocent,' a reputation 'blameless,' and a heart 'pure.'

innocent ↗pure ↗blamelessguiltless

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • completely sinless
  • perfectly sinless
  • utterly sinless

Phrases

  • a sinless state of being
  • born sinless

Prepositions

  • sinless before God
  • sinless in God's eyes

Etymology

Old EnglishGermanicEnglish

Sinless comes from Old English 'synleas', a combination of 'synn' (meaning sin, or moral wrongdoing) and the suffix '-leas' (meaning without, which developed into modern '-less'). Related forms exist in other Germanic languages, such as Old Norse 'syndlauss' and German 'sündelos'.