as in remorseful
feeling sorrow for a wrong that one has done
being contrite is not enough to spare you a detention if you're caught skipping class
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Recent Examples of contrite
This and that ▪ Dolphins rookie running back Ollie Gordon II was contrite about lashing out at running backs coach Eric Studesville in a heated exchange after Gordon was called for a tripping penalty against Baltimore.
—
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
That's why Gausman was contrite despite a mostly fantastic effort.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
The dispatches from one of India’s most troubled generic drug makers were contrite, filled with far-reaching promises to clean up its factory, stop contamination and send safe medication to Americans counting on the company’s drugs.
—Megan Rose, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2025
Van Buren returns shortly with a newly contrite attitude, having come around to his library’s merits and read up on Toth’s prior designs in Hungary.
—Anthony Paletta, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contrite
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
That's why Gausman was contrite despite a mostly fantastic effort.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
The dispatches from one of India’s most troubled generic drug makers were contrite, filled with far-reaching promises to clean up its factory, stop contamination and send safe medication to Americans counting on the company’s drugs.
—Megan Rose, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2025
Van Buren returns shortly with a newly contrite attitude, having come around to his library’s merits and read up on Toth’s prior designs in Hungary.
—Anthony Paletta, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contrite
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contrite
Adjective
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Todd Kesterson of Kaufman Rossin said his remorseful clients aren't necessarily strapped for cash, but are frequently displeased when their children's fortunes exceed theirs.—
Hayley Cuccinello,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2026
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His public defender told reporters on Thursday that her client was remorseful.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Maybe the mere fact of having been born illustrious, with no apparent faults, with nothing to prove or to be ashamed of, had liberated John from the resentments the rest of us feel, and from the cunning and ambition such resentments fuel.—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
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This is a terrible blow against reform and the Dems should be ashamed.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Although not all species of bird can fly (sorry about that, ostriches), many birds do enjoy the power of flight, and this has permitted an almost unlimited diversification of birds, so that birds are now found virtually everywhere on Earth.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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But there is one more ingredient, something that has perhaps been buried underneath everything else in the sorry mess of their 2025-26 campaign.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The professor who gave me the news was polite and professional, apologetic even.—
Kori Schake,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2026
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Eventually, he was escorted out of the event space, with Palmer looking concerned for him and apologetic toward her co-stars and the crowd.—
William Earl,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Johnson wrote in a letter in the filing to the Illinois review board that Hoover is repentant and has the potential and the desire to live the rest of his life as a force for good in his community.—
Beatrice Peterson,
ABC News,
22 Oct. 2025
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Perry had been reluctant to engage with recovery groups in the past, which are often structured around repentant confessions.—
Katy Golvala,
Hartford Courant,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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It is flanked on all sides by footlong rulers (emblazoned, like the yardsticks, with an assortment of penitent phrases including YES, SISTER and NO, SISTER) marking the hours.—
Alex Jovanovich,
Artforum,
1 Jan. 2026
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When in the presence of God, one is meant to assume a penitent air.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 June 2025
Adjective
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My sole interaction with the mother was calm and with good intentions, and the outcome of the encounter is regretful.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
26 Mar. 2026
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And the conflict behind it all dates back to a regretful college recruitment and housing decision.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contrite.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contrite. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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