hair shirt

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of hair shirt Four years later, an America-first cultural crackdown has freed the Met to cast off the hair shirt of reckoning and celebrate its diverse holdings in a spirit of defiance. Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025 In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025 Erin Maglaque’s review of a new book on women and sound in Renaissance Italy peels back the layers of a less-talked about form of religious asceticism and control, one where there are no hair shirts or decade-long fasts, just… silence. Michelle Weber, Longreads, 15 Nov. 2024 Talking about wedding vows was like donning a hair shirt. Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024 The novel aesthetic of Art Nouveau wrapped modernism in the garb of pleasure, instead of in the hair shirt of social obligation and moral uplift. Regina Cole, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2023 Few people’s utopia involves wearing a hair shirt and giving up culinary pleasures; utopia and sacrifice are, for many, antonyms. Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 20 Oct. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hair shirt
Noun
  • If the thought of budgeting gives you a headache, there's another way to approach managing your money without tracking every expense or obsessing over spreadsheets.
    Andreina Rodriguez, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Symptoms of the more serious illness include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis, according to the CDC.
    Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 1 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • And with a team that has not been the biggest thorn in their side over the last 15 seasons.
    Jon Machota, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Though often a thorn in conservatives’ side, Kennedy nevertheless regularly voted with the court’s right-leaning bloc.
    Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The students, identified by police as Kyle Anderson and Samuel Patten, both 18, were each charged with burglary in the second degree as a hate crime and criminal nuisance in the second degree, police said.
    Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
  • The insects can be a nuisance but won't cause structural damage or harm you.
    Andrea Beck, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Despite the growing frustration surrounding the play, Payton remains steadfast in his belief that the play should not be outlawed.
    Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
  • New York — An explosion at a New York City apartment building blew off a floor-to-roof chunk of the high-rise – terrifying residents in the Bronx and fueling frustration and outrage as to how this could have happened.
    Holly Yan, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • What is the worry for governments and what is the worry for ordinary civilians?
    Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Fresh data revealed jobless claims far under expectations — suggesting layoffs remain limited and the labor market is holding firm despite Fed worries.
    Benzinga, Freep.com, 27 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hair shirt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hair%20shirt. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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