When:
Lookups spiked on January 15, 2013.
Why:
The word was widely used in discussions about Lance Armstrong's televised apology for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
For example, as his interviewer Oprah Winfrey said, "People make their own decisions about whether he was contrite or not."
Contrite means "feeling or showing sorrow or remorse for a sin or shortcoming." It comes from the Latin word that means "to grind" or "to bruise."
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
