as in to apologize
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Recent Examples of atone
This comes after Wisconsin players famously did 42 pushups after each spring practice to atone for having lost 42-10 to Iowa last year.
—
Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
After Knull’s fall, Hela is imprisoned in the An'Hay-Zhidi, where Dizang—Devil of the Eighth City—dares her to atone for her sins.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
To overcome this absence (and to atone for Sex and the City’s terrible track record on diversity), And Just Like That introduced a host of new characters — all women of color — to round out Carrie’s friend group.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 14 Aug. 2025
In each case, Reid felt the player was a good-hearted person who had done something terrible but was sincere in his desire to atone and grow.
—Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atone
Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
After Knull’s fall, Hela is imprisoned in the An'Hay-Zhidi, where Dizang—Devil of the Eighth City—dares her to atone for her sins.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
To overcome this absence (and to atone for Sex and the City’s terrible track record on diversity), And Just Like That introduced a host of new characters — all women of color — to round out Carrie’s friend group.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 14 Aug. 2025
In each case, Reid felt the player was a good-hearted person who had done something terrible but was sincere in his desire to atone and grow.
—Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atone
Verb
-
And now, the singer is apologizing to fans, but not for anything to do with his ex.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
16 Oct. 2025
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MacCallum noted that Mamdani had apologized to two dozen members of the NYPD, having previously referred to them as racist, wicked and corrupt.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Hernandez, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, confessed soon after his brother-in-law told detectives the store clerk may have been a suspect, The New York Times reported.—
Brie Stimson,
FOXNews.com,
19 Oct. 2025
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In December 1978, Gacy confessed to kidnapping, raping and murdering dozens of boys and men, some as young as 14 years old, and hiding many of their bodies in a crawl space under the house.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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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Their cry is not against the faith itself but against distorted theology that excuses cruelty.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
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After Politico reported that Young Republicans expressed outrageously racist, misogynistic and anti-Semitic sentiments, Vice President JD Vance excused it as just the edgy chat of young activists.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
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As America attempts to reclaim its pride by whitewashing its unflattering histories, Springsteen’s struggle to balance light and dark on these pointedly American recordings is tremendously poignant.—
Will Hermes,
Rolling Stone,
19 Oct. 2025
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Mayorga combined the rhythms of the San Juanito - traditional Andean music - with rural Colombian cumbia, which arrived in Ecuador via the record industry, already processed and whitewashed.—
NPR,
NPR,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The midfield area certainly functioned better against Frankfurt, with Curtis Jones more than justifying his inclusion.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
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This isn’t to justify those prior murders.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This anxiety seems borne out of JPM's decision a little over a year ago to get ahead of the game and rationalize the following year's NII and expense expectations.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
12 Oct. 2025
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This time, rationalizing the medical results was impossible.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atone. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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