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penitent

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Someone who repents for wrongdoing.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pehnihtint

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɛnɪtɪnt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Roman Catholic Church

    A person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor)

  2. One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of their transgressions.

  3. One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.

  4. One under the direction of a confessor.

adjective

  1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt.

  2. Doing penance.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (Roman Catholic Church) a person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor)

Used this way, penitent is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Religion/spirituality
  • Historical writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

fair penitentpenitent sinnerpenitent thieftrue penitentpenitent heartpenitent soulpoor penitentpenitent privilege

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • penitentiarynounDerived noun · specialist

    A correctional institution for those convicted of major crimes.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • priest-penitent privilegenounCompound term

    The right of a clergyman to refuse to divulge confidential information received from a person during confession or similar exchanges.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor)

repentant

adjective

Sense: feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins

contriteruefulrepentant

Antonyms

noun

Sense: person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor)

impenitentRare

adjective

Sense: feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins

unrepentantimpenitentRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.