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The Idiot vocabulary
140 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
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contrite
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synonyms: compunctious, ignominious ???
► definition
Definition:feeling regret for one's actions; apologetic
► uses
Uses:
"What the hell are you getting so upset about?" he asked her bewilderedly in a tone of contrite amusement. "I thought you didn't believe in God."
"I don't," she sobbed, bursting violently into tears. "But the God I don't believe in is a good God, a just God, a merciful God. [...]"
Joseph Heller. Catch-22, p.180 (1961)
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come, pore and needy, sunk in shame! (a-a-men!) come, all that's worn and soiled and suffering!— come with a broken spirit! come with a contrite heart! come in your rags and sin and dirt! the waters that cleanse is free, the door of heaven stands open— oh, enter in and be at rest!" (a-a-men! glory, glory hallelujah!)
Mark Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Dear me! Papa said you would call,’ continued he, after recovering a little from Catherine’s embrace; while she stood by looking very contrite.
Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights (1847)
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"Hold me! I'm so frightened!" feigned to be in a paroxysm of terror and contrition, occasioned by the dignity of my appearance.
Charles Dickens. Great Expectations (1861)
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"You're spending more than I'm making."
She had grown very contrite. "I'm sorry, angel. Baby's been bad."
Sidney Sheldon. Bloodline, p.90 (1977)
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"Jules, stop, please stop," Lucy said. Her voice was trembling.
Jules was immediately contrite.
Mario Puzo. The Godfather, p.303 (1969)
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The color of his pallor, however, was a curiously basic white— unmixed, that is, with the greens and yellows of guilt or abject contrition.
J.D. Salinger. Franny and Zooey, p.171 (1955)
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