Meaning & use

venially

adverb·Advanced

In a manner that is easily excused or forgiven, describing a minor fault rather than a serious wrong.

See it in a sentence

The judge treated the small filing error venially rather than as a serious violation.

The teacher venially excused the student's first late homework of the semester.

A note on using this word

Venially relates to venial, most familiar from the Catholic distinction between venial sins and more serious mortal sins.

Words with a similar meaning

excusably

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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