as in remorseful
feeling sorrow for a wrong that one has done
being contrite is not enough to spare you a detention if you're caught skipping class
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of contrite
Only one of the officers has been sentenced: a former community service officer named Samantha Peterson, who avoided jail time after reading a contrite statement in court.
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Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 31 July 2024
Waving the Bible without being contrite is hypocrisy.
—Tj Hutchinson, The Denver Post, 24 May 2024
The night before the announcement, an Amazon Alexa executive called one of the Nucleus cofounders with a heads up about the impending product announcement and ended with a contrite apology.
—Dana Mattioli, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024
Everyone would be expecting a contrite performance from him, tepid jokes about male-female relationships, jokes about how horrible men were, and so on.
—Camille Bordas, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for contrite 
Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 31 July 2024
Waving the Bible without being contrite is hypocrisy.
—Tj Hutchinson, The Denver Post, 24 May 2024
The night before the announcement, an Amazon Alexa executive called one of the Nucleus cofounders with a heads up about the impending product announcement and ended with a contrite apology.
—Dana Mattioli, Fortune, 22 Apr. 2024
Everyone would be expecting a contrite performance from him, tepid jokes about male-female relationships, jokes about how horrible men were, and so on.
—Camille Bordas, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for contrite
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contrite
Adjective
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The crew seems to have learned their lesson, or at least put on their most remorseful faces.Emma Soren, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2024
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Caleb's very remorseful and his heartfelt sympathies are extended to the Parris family.Rachel DeSantis, People.com, 21 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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When parents don’t replicate these behaviors in real life, kids might feel disappointed or even ashamed.Holly Garcia, Parents, 5 Dec. 2024
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Justice was not served in this case and Joe Biden should be ashamed.Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, 2 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Even his fellow prolific contemporaries don’t have a bar so high — sorry, Ridley Scott.Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2024
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Under the heading of ‘better safe than sorry,’ a few businesses had already taken precautions to safeguard their executives.Edward Segal, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Plus, apologetic memories of her dead European mother.Armond White, National Review, 13 Dec. 2024
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While apologetic about how vendors have been treated, the executives urged them to stick with Saks and Saks Off 5th, and expressed extreme confidence that the deal to buy the Neiman Marcus Group would soon close, ultimately benefiting — and not hurting — them.David Moin, WWD, 11 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In his new statement, Suga took an even more repentant tone, apologizing for damaging his reputation and disappointing fans while opening himself to any further punishment.Justin Curto, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2024
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Released 24 years after a debut verse on an album no less auspicious than Outkast’s Stankonia, this was a veteran artist taking stock, vividly drawing the lines between the struggling kid and the grateful, repentant adult.Christopher R. Weingarten, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2024
Adjective
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But with Cash on the vocals, the song and the man singing are nearly penitent.EW.com, EW.com, 16 Nov. 2023
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Eighteen years later, playing the beloved daughter of Al Pacino’s Michael, she is shot dead on the steps of the opera house in Palermo, taking a bullet meant for the belatedly penitent godfather, who now comprehends without any doubt that there is no escaping the sins of his or his relatives’ past.Andrew Marzoni, The New Republic, 3 Nov. 2023
Adjective
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A day later, Harbaugh wasn’t so much as regretful as he was discontented.Brian Wacker, Baltimore Sun, 18 Nov. 2024
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He's earned this opportunity by growing into what appears to be a good young man after being, like many of us, a youth full of regretful decisions.Phil Hay, The Athletic, 3 Aug. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near contrite
Cite this Entry
“Contrite.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contrite. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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