Synonyms for penitent
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Repentant — feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt
repentant, contrite, remorseful, penitential, sorry, rueful, apologetic, penitentiary, compunctious
Definitions
- adj. 1
Feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt.
Related words
- Word family
- penitence penitently
Example sentences
- remorseful Sami was very remorseful and he told the truth.
- contrite She fidgeted, looking noticeably contrite.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| penitent | rising | |
| remorseful | rising | |
| repentant | rising | |
| contrite | rising | |
| penitential | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- sorry2
- 6 letters
- rueful2
- 8 letters
- contrite2
- 9 letters
- repentant3
- 10 letters
- apologetic5, remorseful3
- 11 letters
- penitential
- 12 letters
- penitentiary5, compunctious
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sorry2 = 2 syllables).