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Glite Dictionary
for my sins

for my sins

14 9.5
To do something I enjoy but feel a little guilty about
  • idiom
  • Informal
: por mis pecados
  • I was part of for my sins, I was part of getting that children in prison stuff really screwed down tight because of what I did.

I asked for a mission and for my sins they gave me one.

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Examples

  • I asked for a mission and for my sins they gave me one.

    Film Courage

  • So you heard in the introduction, I, for my sins, I suppose, work in the venture capital space.

  • I stand here for my sins, lecturing in a kind of an ad Lib way, and that makes it even more pronounced in what I say.

  • And land sakes, Pat," she confided in me one August afternoon, "looking after you is the hardest chore the Good Lord ever thrust upon me as retribution for my sins."

    Fiction book (1994)

  • I went to the amusement park for my sins, indulging in every thrilling ride.

  • I binge-watched the entire series for my sins, even though I had work to finish.

  • I enjoy chocolate chip cookies for my sins, even when I'm trying to eat healthy.

Synonyms

sinfully
vsfor my sins
2 7.0

In a way that feels extremely pleasurable and a little wrong

is used humorously to say one does something as a guilty indulgence

How Guilty

shame
412 1.3
for my sins
  • Informal
14 9.5
regrettably
  • Formal
32 4.6

Surface Forms

for my sins main

Morphology

for + mine + sin

The components 'for' (indicating reason), 'my' (possessive) and 'sins' (moral wrongdoing) give a learner a partial clue that the action is being done 'because of' the speaker's moral failings, so some sense can be inferred. However, the idiomatic, self‑deprecating nuance meaning 'as a guilty pleasure/indulgence' is not fully predictable from the parts alone, so comprehension requires some prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase for my sins comes from old church talk where people said bad things happened 'for their sins' as a punishment. Today people use for my sins in a joking way to admit a guilty habit or that they are 'to blame', so it often means doing something as a 'guilty pleasure'.