Topic Thesaurus
Roget's Thesaurus

Penitence

Nouns
  • penitence, contrition, compunction, repentance, remorse
  • regret etc. Regret. self-reproach, self-reproof, self-accusation, self-condemnation, self-humiliation
  • stings of conscience, pangs of conscience, qualms of conscience, prickings of conscience, twinge of conscience, twitch of conscience, touch of conscience, voice of conscience
  • compunctious visitings of nature. acknowledgment, confession etc. (disclosure) Disclosure
  • apology etc. Atonement
  • recantation etc. Tergiversation
  • penance etc. Atonement
  • resipiscence. awakened conscience, deathbed repentance, stool of repentance, cuttystool. penitent, repentant, Magdalen, prodigal son, a sadder and a wiser man" [Coleridge].
Verbs
  • repent, be sorry for
  • be penitent etc. adj.
  • rue
  • regret etc. Regret
  • think better of
  • recant etc. Tergiversation
  • knock under etc. (submit) Submission
  • plead guilty
  • cry peccavi
  • own oneself in the wrong
  • acknowledge, confess etc., (disclose) Disclosure
  • humble oneself
  • beg pardon etc. (apologize) Atonement
  • turn over a new leaf, put on the new man, turn from sin
  • reclaim
  • repent in sackcloth and ashes etc., (do penance) Atonement
  • learn by experience.
Adjectives
  • penitent
  • repenting etc. v.
  • repentant, contrite
  • conscience-smitten, conscience-stricken
  • self-accusing, self-convicted. penitential, penitentiary
  • reclaimed, reborn
  • not hardened
  • unhardened.
Adverbs
  • mea culpa.
Phrases
  • peccavi
  • Georges Dandin
  • and wet his grave with my repentant tears" [Richard III].