as in compensates
to make up for (an offense)
tried to atone for forgetting their anniversary by giving his wife a truly extravagant gift
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atones (for)
Verb
-
On Monday, Nichols introduced an update to Idaho’s existing law that compensates crime victims if the perpetrator reaches a financial agreement to tell their story.—
Kevin Fixler
January 27,
Idaho Statesman,
27 Jan. 2026 -
The system compensates for the Earth's rotation by counter-spinning the sensor while the telescope follows the sky, keeping everything rock-steady.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
What redeems him, at least in the reader’s eyes, is Catherine’s love.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Gabriel And Lil'Jordan Humphrey totally redeems himself.—
Joe Nguyen,
Denver Post,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The Creature repays the favor by using his strength to free the ship from its icy prison.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Jan. 2026
-
The city repays the bondholders over time, plus interest, using property taxes.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
If your return has a simple math error or a mismatch with income the IRS already has on file (like a missing 1099), the IRS often corrects it automatically and sends you a notice explaining the change.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The fourth-wall-breaking commercial starts with Osbourne filming a Super Bowl commercial about a 4G phone when the director corrects him and tells him that the new version is a 5G.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
8 Feb. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Atones (for).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atones%20%28for%29. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
