Word of the Day

: January 24, 2018

contrite

adjective KAHN-tryte

What It Means

: feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming

contrite in Context

"… York did in fact say he was sorry and was contrite about making that mistake." — Mark Purdy, The San Jose Mercury News, 1 Jan. 2017

"… several lawmakers called for stronger rules that compel companies to meet minimum cybersecurity standards…. But, as in years past, these efforts have yet to produce any new laws. In the meantime, the average person can do little except monitor their credit reports and hope that contrite companies—shamed by security researchers—will learn from their mistakes." — Hayley Tsukayama, The Daily Herald (Everett, Washington), 23 Dec. 2017

Did You Know?

A person who is contrite may have rubbed someone the wrong way and caused bruised feelings—and there is a hint about the origins of the word in that thought. Contrite came to English by way of Anglo-French from the Latin verb conterere, meaning "to grind" or "to bruise." Conterere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix com-, meaning "with" or "together," and terere, "to rub." If you've guessed that trite is a cousin of contrite (through terere), you are correct. Other terere descendants in English include detriment and very possibly the familiar verb try.