as in to apologize
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Recent Examples of atone
Yet this movie is great enough to atone.
—
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2026
This should be more of a business trip for the youngster — though he could be motivated by wanting to atone for last season’s poor showing.
—Eric Stephens, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2026
However, the actual volumes added have been smaller than advertised as some countries physically struggle to increase, and others atone for earlier overproduction.
—Grant Smith, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2026
Research tells us that New Year’s resolutions, a popular noncontractual commitment, began over 3,000 years ago in Babylonian culture and shortly after in other cultures as a way, in general, to atone for questionable practices and/or debt.
—Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for atone
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2026
This should be more of a business trip for the youngster — though he could be motivated by wanting to atone for last season’s poor showing.
—Eric Stephens, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2026
However, the actual volumes added have been smaller than advertised as some countries physically struggle to increase, and others atone for earlier overproduction.
—Grant Smith, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2026
Research tells us that New Year’s resolutions, a popular noncontractual commitment, began over 3,000 years ago in Babylonian culture and shortly after in other cultures as a way, in general, to atone for questionable practices and/or debt.
—Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for atone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atone
Verb
-
The company apologized for the error and paid you the full $1,782.—
Christopher Elliott,
Mercury News,
19 June 2026
-
But if another family arrivesa family joins the playground, Michael and Melissa Foster usually start apologizing in advance.—
Anna Spoerre,
Kansas City Star,
18 June 2026
Verb
-
Carina McCue testified that her husband had confessed to raping their oldest daughter, who was still a minor at the time of the fire.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
15 June 2026
-
Presented with an opportunity to finally confess his feelings to Nikki, our man screws the metaphorical pooch.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
14 June 2026
Verb
-
Radiation can also be used to palliate painful bone metastases, as well as chemotherapy.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
1 Oct. 2024
-
Senior-home avatars who are designed to palliate dementia patients in their darkest days.—
Longreads,
Longreads,
12 Apr. 2024
Verb
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Plus, our governor issued a memo excusing fans from delays caused by celebrating.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2026
-
Mixing those up can lead to either punishing good judgment or excusing bad results.—
Flavio Maluf,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Verb
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The current administration is engaged in an effort to bowdlerize American history, stripping away complexity in favor of easy myth and hagiography, not to mention the attempt to whitewash more recent events.—
John Swansburg,
The Atlantic,
15 June 2026
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The order to whitewash America’s historic sites of anything less than rosy about the nation’s past has led to some predictable embarrassments.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
In my view, a push by Metcalf does not justify a deadly response unless the push was an attempt to push someone off a subway platform.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
15 June 2026
-
SpaceX lost nearly $5 billion in 2025 and the blockbuster IPO has sparked debate over whether the company's huge valuation is justified.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
As the show began to wrap up, Goldberg aimed to try to tie in the book, asking Vance about rationalizing his Catholic faith with a hard-line stance on immigration.—
Meg Kinnard,
Chicago Tribune,
16 June 2026
-
The pope has fiercely criticized joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran and rebuked world leaders for invoking religious language to rationalize war and voiced opposition to the administration’s immigration crackdown.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Atone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atone. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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