Meaning & use
iniquity
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
Deep moral wrongness, or a specific act that is shockingly unjust or wicked.
Grammar: Uncountable for the general quality (a den of iniquity); countable for a particular wrong (the iniquities of the system).
Patterns
- the iniquity of something
- iniquities of something
The preacher spoke out against the iniquity he saw in the city's gambling halls.
Historians describe the forced labor camps as an iniquity that shamed the whole nation.
She catalogued the iniquities of the old tax system in a long, angry essay.
Word forms
| plural | iniquities |
|---|
Common combinations
- den of iniquity
- The old harbor tavern had a reputation as a den of iniquity.
- a great iniquity
- Denying workers their wages was a great iniquity.
- social iniquity
- The novel exposes the social iniquity of Victorian factory towns.
- forgive iniquity
- The prayer asks that heaven forgive our iniquity.
- the iniquities of
- He wrote bitterly about the iniquities of colonial rule.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wickedness
- Wickedness is the more ordinary word for evil character, while iniquity sounds more solemn and often points to injustice built into a situation.
- injustice
- Injustice stresses unfairness toward someone, whereas iniquity stresses moral corruption and carries a religious or biblical flavor.
- sin
- Sin is judged against religious law, while iniquity can also describe a wrong that is simply grossly unfair.
- vice
- Vice usually means a habitual weakness such as gambling, so it is milder and more personal than iniquity.
Opposites
Word family
- iniquitous adjective
- extremely unfair or wicked
- iniquitously adverb
- in a grossly unjust or wicked way
- equity noun
- fairness, the opposite idea from which iniquity is formed
Commonly confused: iniquity or inequity?
iniquity vs inequity
Inequity means unfairness in how people are treated or paid; iniquity is graver and suggests moral wickedness.
Practice
Which sentence uses iniquity correctly?
Choose one answer.
Iniquity names grave injustice or wickedness, which fits child labor. The other options use it for boredom, mild guilt or taste, which it never means.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “iniquity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.