peccant

[ pek-uhnt ]
See synonyms for: peccantpeccancypeccantness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. sinning; guilty of a moral offense.

  2. violating a rule, principle, or established practice; faulty; wrong.

Origin of peccant

1
1595–1605; <Latin peccant- (stem of peccāns), present participle of peccāre to err, offend; see -ant

Other words from peccant

  • pec·can·cy, pec·cant·ness, noun
  • pec·cant·ly, adverb

Words Nearby peccant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use peccant in a sentence

  • This ultimate salvation of all mankind, and of all peccant spirits, is a conspicuous doctrine of Mr Bailey's.

  • The first was to observe strict "propriety" in her books—a point in which the novel had always been a little peccant.

    The English Novel | George Saintsbury
  • Betty, not really knowing what she was doing, bent over the peccant milkman's book.

    What Timmy Did | Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes
  • It would be easy to crush up a peccant borough or two,—a borough that had been discovered in its sin.

    Phineas Finn | Anthony Trollope
  • This idea had occurred to Joe from his remembrance of a peccant hound in the grasp of a tyrant whip.

    Mr. Scarborough's Family | Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for peccant

peccant

/ (ˈpɛkənt) /


adjectiverare
  1. guilty of an offence; corrupt

  2. violating or disregarding a rule; faulty

  1. producing disease; morbid

Origin of peccant

1
C17: from Latin peccans, from peccāre to sin

Derived forms of peccant

  • peccancy, noun
  • peccantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012