- feeling regret for one's sins; repentant
- a person who is penitent
- a person who repents his or her sins and seeks forgiveness for them
- a person who confesses his or her sins to a priest and submits to a penance imposed by him
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pen•i•tent /ˈpɛnɪtənt/USA pronunciation
adj.
n. [countable]
pen•i•ten•tial /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəl/USA pronunciation adj.
pen•i•tent•ly, adv. See -pen-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- expressing sorrow for wrongdoing and desiring to make up for the wrong; repentant;
contrite.
n. [countable]
- a penitent person.
pen•i•ten•tial /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəl/USA pronunciation adj.
pen•i•tent•ly, adv. See -pen-.
pen•i•tent
(pen′i tənt),USA pronunciation adj.
n.
pen′i•tent•ly, adv.
- feeling or expressing sorrow for sin or wrongdoing and disposed to atonement and amendment;
repentant;
contrite.
n.
- a penitent person.
- Religion[Rom. Cath. Ch.]a person who confesses sin and submits to a penance.
- Anglo-French; see penance
- Medieval Latin pēnitent-, Latin paenitent- (stem of paenitēns), present participle of paenitēre to regret; replacing Middle English penaunt
- Middle English 1325–75
- 1. remorseful, rueful, sorrowful.
- 1. unrepentant, impenitent.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
penitent /ˈpɛnɪtənt/ adj
'penitent' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
confession
- impenitent
- Lothario
- maudlin
- penitential
- penitentiary
- Rowe
- seal
- shrive
- absolution
- assonance
- confidential communication
- contrite
- mourners' bench
- penitence
- Penitente
- purgatory
- reconcile
- remorseful
- repent
- repentant
- sanbenito
- shrift