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.
“I write to make amends,” she reflects, describing a lifetime of studying Cuba as a kind of penance for what she calls being “the chosen one” that spring day in 1963.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
The reader is invited to follow her often frightening pursuit of spiritual penance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
His penance is to “pass, like night, from land to land,” repeating his story: “And till my ghastly tale is told, / This heart within me burns.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
They straddle the line between indulgence and wellness, pleasure and penance.
From Salon • May 19, 2025
“Carlisle swam to France, and continued on through Europe, to the universities there. By night he studied music, science, medicine — and found his calling, his penance, in that, in saving human lives.”
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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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