sinful
/ˈsɪnfl̩/adjective
sinful is spelled S-I-N-F-U-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sinful means “Having sinned; guilty of sin” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sinful?
| Letters | 6: S-I-N-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sinful?
Sinful appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sinful?
- /ˈsɪnfl̩/
- [ˈsɪnfl̩]
Sinful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sinful.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sinful
- more sinful comparative
- sinfuller comparative
- most sinful superlative
- sinfullest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sinful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having sinned; guilty of sin.
- 2
Constituting a sin; morally or religiously wrong; wicked; evil.
- 3
colloquialdecadent (luxuriously self-indulgent)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sinful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense constituting sin:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | coupable, peccamineux |
| German | sündig, sündhaft, frevelhaft |
| Portuguese | pecaminoso |
| Spanish | pecaminoso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sinful come from?
From Middle English synful, senful, sunful, from Old English synful (“sinful, guilty, wicked, corrupt”), equivalent to sin + -ful. Compare Dutch zondevol (“sinful”), German sündevoll (“sinful”), Danish syndefuld (“sinful”), Swedish syndfull (“sinful”), Icelandic syndfullur (“sinful”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).