contrition

C2+ Topic:Describing People

US /kənˈtrɪʃən/ UK /kənˈtrɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
sincere remorse or penitence for wrongdoing

He confessed with evident contrition and begged forgiveness.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · sincere remorse or... remorse penitence repentance regret compunctioncontritenesssorrow

Opposites

impenitenceremorselessness

Word family

Related forms contrite trite attrition

Etymology

From Old French contricion, from Late Latin contritio(n-) ('a grinding, crushing; in the ecclesiastical sense, sorrow for sin'), from conterere ('to grind down'), from con- (intensive) + terere ('to rub').

contritio Latin terere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# contrition

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kənˈtrɪʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /kənˈtrɪʃən/

## Meanings
1. sincere remorse or penitence for wrongdoing

## Examples
- He confessed with evident contrition and begged forgiveness.

## Synonyms
- remorse
- penitence
- repentance
- regret
- compunction
- contriteness
- sorrow

## Antonyms
- impenitence
- remorselessness

## Related Forms
- contrite
- trite
- attrition

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: contritio
- Root: terere

## Etymology
From Old French contricion, from Late Latin contritio(n-) ('a grinding, crushing; in the ecclesiastical sense, sorrow for sin'), from conterere ('to grind down'), from con- (intensive) + terere ('to rub').

## AI Etymology
Contrition is from Old French contricion, from Late Latin contritio(n-) ('a grinding, crushing; in the ecclesiastical sense, sorrow for sin'), from conterere ('to grind down'), from con- (intensive) + terere ('to rub'). Important recorded forms include contritio (Latin) and terere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers sincere remorse or penitence for wrongdoing. The wider family includes related words such as contrite, trite, and attrition.

## Topics
- Describing People
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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