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.
The Vatican said on Thursday: "The sacred ministers of the Society of St Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, while the sacrament of penance they administer and the marriages they witness are invalid."
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
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
A breakfast that feels more like penance than possibility.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 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
“That’s one of the things I do penance for all the time. Except that no one at the convent listens to me like you do.”
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
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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