as in to apologize
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Recent Examples of atone
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
Carolina will need Moehrig to atone for his San Francisco sin by smashing (legally) the Saints (3-10) on the road.
—Mike Kaye
december 10, Charlotte Observer, 10 Dec. 2025
The treaty was expanded in 1967 to apply universally, in part to atone for colonialism.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 19 Nov. 2025
Gary agreed to pay the Kinahans two hundred thousand euros to atone for various misdeeds, including a nonfatal shooting of a Kinahan associate.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atone
Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
Carolina will need Moehrig to atone for his San Francisco sin by smashing (legally) the Saints (3-10) on the road.
—Mike Kaye
december 10, Charlotte Observer, 10 Dec. 2025
The treaty was expanded in 1967 to apply universally, in part to atone for colonialism.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 19 Nov. 2025
Gary agreed to pay the Kinahans two hundred thousand euros to atone for various misdeeds, including a nonfatal shooting of a Kinahan associate.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atone
Verb
-
The 52-year-old crown princess, who apologized to King Harald and Queen Sonja in a February 6 statement, has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
20 Mar. 2026
-
King did not apologize or seek forgiveness.—
DAVID FISCHER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
California metal vets Neurosis have surprised-released An Undying Love for a Burning World, their first album in a decade, and first since co-founder Scott Kelly left the band after confessing to domestic abuse.—
Alex Suskind,
Pitchfork,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Sources say the men denied the allegations but eventually confessed under severe torture.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
19 Mar. 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
-
For Barbara, impending death does not inspire a moral awakening, and Rosenberg never gives the reader an origin story that would excuse her cruelty.—
Isle McElroy,
The Atlantic,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Please excuse the pun, but the One Battle After Another star looks like a literal cascading waterfall at the Oscars 2026.—
Meg Walters,
InStyle,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
So what food crimes were these celebs whitewashing with their presence at Live Más Live?—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Once a sky-blue democracy is restored, may Trump’s days of infamy be ruled illegitimate and his name and legacy duly tainted by all of history, darkly blackened or cautiously reddened in the honest records that this twerp and his twisted cohorts have conspired so heinously to whitewash.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
But manufacturers use unnecessary complication to justify charging you $100,000 for $20,000 worth of car--or $350,000 for $50,000 worth of tractor.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
23 Mar. 2026
-
Blending absurdist humor with social critique, the series explores how civility can be weaponized to justify cruelty.—
Lin Ying-Hsuan,
Variety,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
While rationalizing deception is easy to do, developing the virtue of truthfulness is not.—
Katherine Moses,
The Conversation,
13 Mar. 2026
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But as another voter rationalizes, the sheer size of the ballot will do more harm than good in the long run.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Atone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atone. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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