Penitent
['penɪt(ə)nt] or ['pɛnətənt]
Definition
(noun.) (Roman Catholic Church) a person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor).
(adj.) feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds .
Editor: Pierre--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant; contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on amendment of life.
(a.) Doing penance.
(n.) One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of his transgressions.
(n.) One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.
(n.) One under the direction of a confessor.
Edited by Bradley
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Repentant, contrite.
n. Repentant.
Typist: Winfred
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See PENITENTIAL]
Checker: Yale
Definition
adj. suffering pain or sorrow for sin: contrite: repentant.—n. one who is sorry for sin: one who has confessed sin and is undergoing penance.—ns. Pen′itence Pen′itency state of being penitent: sorrow for sin.—adj. Peniten′tial pertaining to or expressive of penitence.—n. a book of rules relating to penance.—adv. Peniten′tially.—adj. Peniten′tiary relating to penance: penitential.—n. a penitent: an office at the court of Rome for examining and issuing secret bulls dispensations &c.: a book for guidance in imposing penances: a place for the performance of penance: a house of correction and punishment for offenders.—adv. Pen′itently.—Penitential garment a rough garment worn for penance; Penitential psalms certain psalms suitable for being sung by penitents as the 6th 32d 38th 51st 102d 130th 143d.
Typist: Meg
Unserious Contents or Definition
adj. Undergoing or awaiting punishment.
Checker: Pamela
Unserious Contents or Definition
From pen, meaning to write, and intent, meaning determination. One who determines for the right.
Checked by Juliana
Examples
- In this place is an altar dedicated to St. Dimas, the penitent thief. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- After a spacebreathless and spent in prayer, a penitent approached the confessional. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- She felt a touch on her arm, and met the penitent eye of Miss Kilroy. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The matron at the Reformatory had reported her to my lady as a sincerely penitent and thoroughly trustworthy girl. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- He was too penitent, too remorseful. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- But he was very penitent indeed, and in a peculiar way--not in the lump, but by instalments. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Well, then, said Bois-Guilbert, I will speak as freely as ever did doting penitent to his ghostly father, when placed in the tricky confessional. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- I can make no submissionI am grown neither humble nor penitent by what has passed. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- The surprise and its consequences would have been much less disagreeable to me if he had not been penitent. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- He expressed no regret for what he had done which satisfied her; his style was not penitent, but haughty. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- I have seen all sorts, and I have seen you pretty often in season and out of season, abroad and at home, and I never see you so melancholy penitent. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The monk hath some fair penitent to shrive to-night, that he is in such a hurry to depart, said De Bracy. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- It is just leaning down to you, like a black priest to a blacker penitent. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Out of this place she got the crown of thorns, the nails of the cross, the true Cross itself, and the cross of the penitent thief. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- The penitent kiss was better than a world of words, and John had her on his knee in a minute, saying tenderly. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Holy men have bidden penitents like you to hasten their path upward by penance, self-denial, and difficult good works. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Thy penitents, father, have made a long shrift--it is the better for them, since it is the last they shall ever make. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Typist: Remington