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Definitions

penance

[pen-uhns] / ˈpɛn əns /


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.

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

The new film is the director’s penance: an apologia to musical lovers who want to see the star do every inch of the dancing.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

Concluding that Didion left these pages behind so they would eventually take shape as the penance of an unreliable narrator is surely too tidy.

From Salon • Jun. 14, 2025

Mr Sloan said he later built the cathedral at Inch Abbey as "an act of penance" and made that into a Cistercian monastery.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2025

He knew there was no penance Father Mulrooney could demand that would ease the guilt he felt, but he didn’t care.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer




Vocabulary lists containing penance