as in to compensate
to make up for (an offense)
tried to atone for forgetting their anniversary by giving his wife a truly extravagant gift
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atone (for)
Verb
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When clarity is missing, teams compensate by adding more processes, controls and technology layers.—
Hari Sonnenahalli,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026 -
For now, the blue-collar gains are compensating for the bleeding in entry-level hiring.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
1 June 2026
Verb
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With his best friend, Diahann Carroll, and a sizable contribution from Sidney Poitier, Aaron organizes the funeral, attempting to redeem the reputation he was hired to protect.—
Meredith Maran,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
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This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.—
Jason Stauffer,
CNBC,
1 June 2026
Verb
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The legislation follows other updates to 529 funds that allow them to be used to repay student loans or rolled over for retirement savings.—
Sharon Epperson,Stephanie Dhue,
CNBC,
1 June 2026
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Some of the hardest hit by high interest rates are smaller companies, which have a tougher time borrowing to grow when loans are more expensive to repay.—
Khaled Wassef,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Francisco corrects Arnold's Spanish and has conversations with him through his computer speakers.—
Stephan Bisaha,
NPR,
4 June 2026
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But her cool daughter DEI (Sydney Park), who uses they/them pronouns, is always ready to correct her.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
4 June 2026
Verb
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Larded throughout this scene is that unmistakable suggestion, yet again, that the play exists because its playwright needed — if not to right a cosmic wrong — to create a place to house or expiate his grief.—
Rhoda Feng,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2026
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The Sisters have come a long way, but never strayed from their mission: to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Atone (for).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atone%20%28for%29. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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