These words refer to acts that violate religious, ethical or moral standards. Sin has an exclusively religious connotation, referring to any act specifically proscribed by religious doctrine: a sect that considers going to the pictures a sin . It may be used metaphorically for any act judged improper or outrageous: a sin to come to your party so late; a sin against humanity. Transgression is often used as a fancier word for sin , as though its weightier syllables more clearly indicated opprobrium. In other uses it may suggest any violation of an agreed-upon set of rules: a clear transgression of the cease-fire agreement.

Wrong and misdeed refer to evil or unjust actions; both may imply either a religious context or, more vaguely, a wider ethical context. Wrong suggests the giving of hurt or injury to someone: those who would unthinkingly do a wrong to their neighbours. The wrongful act implied by misdeed does not necessarily suggest hurt to others, but the word often seems euphemistic when used for sin: repenting his misdeeds .

Error and fault also sound euphemistic when substituted either for sin or wrong . Except in such clichés as "the error of his ways," error seems to suggest that a sin or wrong is an unintentional mistake rather than a deliberate choice. Fault suggests an imperfect result, a flaw or a blemish; when used euphemistically for sin , it seems to excuse bad conduct by suggesting that perfection, however much desired, is impossible. Indiscretion , most strictly, refers to an unwise or improper action, but it ahs become a vogue word for such sins as adultery, as though to minimize the wrong committed by attributing it to a momentary lack of judgement: a wife who was guilty of an indiscretion while travelling alone.