penance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are the shamefaced former members, who confess their gullibility as a kind of penance; there are the cockamamie claims on which the belief system is based.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
As if doing penance for the past, all four of the film’s stars are associated with superhero franchises.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
“If anything he had some kind of remorse and was on his penance campaign. Part of resolving himself was helping with noble endeavors,” Tramo said.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026
Concluding that Didion left these pages behind so they would eventually take shape as the penance of an unreliable narrator is surely too tidy.
From Salon • Jun. 14, 2025
The Angel of the candy counter had found me out at last, and was exacting excruciating penance for all the stolen Milky Ways, Mounds, Mr. Goodbars and Her- sheys with Almonds.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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Vocabulary lists containing penance
Fahrenheit 451
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The Poet X
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The Joy Luck Club
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