penancenoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˈpen.əns/us/ˈpen.əns/an act that shows that you feel sorry about something that you have done, sometimes for religious reasons:
As a penance, she said she would buy them all a box of chocolates.
They are doing penance for their sins.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Making & accepting apologies
- absolution
- afraid
- atonement
- conciliate
- cut
- excusable
- excuse
- excuse/pardon my French! idiom
- forge
- make it up to sb idiom
- mend
- mend your fences idiom
- overlook
- pardon (me) idiom
- recompense
- reconcile
- reconciliation
- repentant
- take sb back
- unrepentant
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Religious concepts: sin