atoning (for)

present participle of atone (for)
as in making amends for
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 atoning (for)
Verb
  • For now, the blue-collar gains are compensating for the bleeding in entry-level hiring.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 June 2026
  • Where are employees compensating at personal cost to keep work moving?
    Bill Howatt, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
Verb
  • Any available upgrade seats are first offered to passengers who opt to upgrade using dollars, then to those redeeming frequent flyer miles, and finally, complimentary upgrades will be offered to elite status members.
    Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 12 June 2026
  • Rather than building toward a meaningful reward, consumers shift to short-term behavior which includes redeeming for low value items, disengaging, or spreading loyalty across multiple programs to hedge against future devaluation.
    Gary Drenik, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Verb
  • In other words, as much as 8% of the district’s budget gets spent on repaying debt.
    Joe Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2026
  • Others, such as Langley, scoffed at the idea of repaying NCDOT.
    Nicholas Sullivan, Charlotte Observer, 13 June 2026
Verb
  • Screen time has many people asking whether their contact lenses can do double duty by filtering blue light along with correcting vision.
    Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 13 June 2026
  • Authorities initially identified him as Somali before later correcting his nationality to Sudanese.
    Bradford Betz, FOXNews.com, 10 June 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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Atoning (for).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atoning%20%28for%29. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster