English Meaning & Definitions
Feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt.
- โHe made a sincere, contrite apology for his outburst at the meeting.โ
- โThe judge reduced her sentence because she appeared genuinely contrite.โ
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for โcontriteโ.
Late Middle English: from Old French contrit or Latin contritus, past participle of conterere 'to grind or bruise', from con- 'together' + terere 'to rub'. The figurative sense of being 'crushed' in spirit by a sense of guilt developed in late Latin and passed into Christian theology.
Think of someone who is 'con' (against) their 'rite' (righteous) past actions, now feeling deeply sorry.
Frequently Asked Questions About โcontriteโ
1. What is the meaning of โcontriteโ in English?
In English, contrite (adjective) is defined as: โFeeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt.โ.
2. How do you use โcontriteโ in a sentence?
โHe made a sincere, contrite apology for his outburst at the meeting.โ
3. What are English synonyms of โcontriteโ?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of โcontriteโ?
Late Middle English: from Old French contrit or Latin contritus, past participle of conterere 'to grind or bruise', from con- 'together' + terere 'to rub'. The figurative sense of being 'crushed' in spirit by a sense of guilt developed in late Latin and passed into Christian theology.
๐ฌ๐งMore English Words to English
View all English words โA measurement of time indicating an instantaneous occurrence or a state where no time has elapsed.
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.