How to Use penance in a Sentence

penance

noun

• He did charitable work as a penance.
• That car had all the great traits and none of the bad ones for which a 911 might pay penance.
  — Robert Ross, Robb Report, 27 Aug. 2022
• At first blush, penance seems a bit out of place in a world of protest.
  — Lloyd Daniel Barba, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2023
• The games were the penance paid for a couple nights in San Francisco.
  — Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 18 Oct. 2021
• How these adult screw-ups pay penance is a great ethics question.
  — Logan Jenkins, sandiegouniontribune.com, 13 July 2017
• Smell the coffee, say 100 Hail Marys and Our Fathers for penance and then go away and get a life.
  — Rubén Rosario, Twin Cities, 28 June 2019
• And in what looks like penance, Norway has, since the 1990s, worked to use this windfall for the common good.
  — Brett Berk, WIRED, 6 July 2019
• Some of her modes of penance will surely invade your dreams.
  — Lindsey Bahr, Star Tribune, 2 Feb. 2021
• Kaepernick has done his penance--and gotten paid for it.
  — Roy S. Johnson | [e-mail], al, 28 Apr. 2022
• In that sense, cooking for my sister-in-law felt more like penance than a good deed.
  — Kaila Yu, Glamour, 26 May 2021
• But after a year of penance, aka coaching in the Greek league, Iona came calling.
  — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2021
• For the Christians who choose to observe it, Lent is a time of penance and abstinence.
  — refinery29.com, 27 Mar. 2018
• Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, a 40-day period of penance for Christians around the world.
  — Nina Strochlic, National Geographic, 26 Feb. 2020
• The ashes symbolize penance and the dust from which God made people.
  — Francisco Guzman and Pete Burn, CNN, 26 Feb. 2020
• Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary loved the old-school penance.
  — Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press, 8 June 2018
• The Vatican in 2011 sentenced Karadima to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes.
  — Washington Post, 22 May 2018
• Wasn't there some penance to be done in representing the little guy?
  — Dan Snierson, EW.com, 19 July 2022
• Joseph W. recalled grabbing a rosary and doing penance in the pews of a largely empty church.
  — Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, USA TODAY, 28 Aug. 2017
• For Lee, his journey through the virtual meat mixer can be read as an act of penance.
  — Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2022
• And even when three goons set upon him with razor blades, Ajay stays quiet and accepts the cuts as penance.
  — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 29 Dec. 2022
• The comics already had lost their fight, and their penance quite possibly could be having to make four more years of Trump jokes.
  — Steve Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 4 Nov. 2020
• In all of the months leading up to the Wallen incident and after, there has been no corporate penance.
  — Andrea Williams, Vulture, 28 June 2021
• Perhaps each one of us could make a list and share it among friends as a challenge and a penance and a celebration, too.
  — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 28 June 2021
• Plus, Bacon adds, this phrase positions going to the gym as penance.
  — Melissa A. Fabello, SELF, 23 Dec. 2017
• During the season of Lent, Catholics are to abstain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance.
  — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 1 Mar. 2023
• Penance is a good idea, but granted Benedict’s age and health, any serious penance is out of the question.
  — The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Feb. 2022
• The ashes are also a symbol of penance and are made from palm leaves that were used in last year's Palm Sunday services.
  — Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 17 Feb. 2021
• The most extreme devotees made their way there in the form of penance—by walking, cycling, and chanting for thousands of miles.
  — TIME, 24 Jan. 2024
• Here's everything to know about the annual day of fasting and penance.
  — Jennie Key, The Enquirer, 3 Apr. 2023
• Right Now Following the flap, Demna offered penance for his misdeeds.
  — Nathan Taylor Pemberton, Rolling Stone, 20 Jan. 2024

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024