How to Use repentance in a Sentence

repentance

noun
  • There’s a lot of repentance in this record.
    — Alma Rota, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Rosh Hashana marks the first day of the 10 days of repentance.
    — Howard Cohen, miamiherald, 19 Sep. 2017
  • The idea was to avoid self-indulgence at this time of repentance for one’s sins.
    — Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 22 Feb. 2021
  • But the question lingers whether that repentance was genuine.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 13 Oct. 2022
  • After a day of repentance, sins are forgiven and the slate is wiped clean for the year ahead.
    — Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 3 Oct. 2022
  • Xie pleaded guilty and asked the court to grant him a lenient sentence based on his repentance.
    — Washington Post, 8 May 2017
  • My hope and belief is that this war will bring repentance and forgiveness.
    — Stella Kalinina, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2022
  • The blowing of the horn is used as a call to repentance during the holiday.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN, 25 Sep. 2022
  • Lent's dates might change from year to year, but its purpose remains the same as a time of repentance and fasting.
    — Laura Kostelny, Country Living, 21 Feb. 2023
  • It is used as a call to repentance during the High Holy Days.
    — CNN, 26 Aug. 2021
  • The man told the boy that his hand was a gift of repentance to God before serenely slicing it away.
    — Lori Hinnant and and Maggie Michael, idahostatesman, 10 Dec. 2017
  • There are all of his beautiful last poems of repentance to Prue.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2019
  • The notion that this is the final fling before the repentance begins.
    — Time, 30 Dec. 2022
  • The Eucharist is meant to help heal sinners, but that requires repentance.
    — Ryan T. Anderson, WSJ, 1 July 2021
  • Shrove is the past tense of shrive, which means to gain absolution of sins by confession and repentance.
    — al, 1 Mar. 2022
  • But as believers say, there’s always time to repent, and the truest repentance is action.
    — William Saletan, Slate Magazine, 15 Sep. 2017
  • Jesus told the 12 that repentance and the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations.
    — Rev. Jeff Horejsi, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2025
  • The forward move, the authors say, cannot be solely for repentance – but restitution, too.
    — Joan Taylor, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Mar. 2022
  • The most important step should be in terms of an apology or repentance to the person or people who’ve been harmed.
    — Tara Isabella Burton, Vox, 24 Sep. 2018
  • So, that’s just one of many, many acts that—again, there’s no repentance, no acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2019
  • One of the central values of Judaism is teshuva, or repentance.
    — Guila Benchimol, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Ash Wednesday is a holy day of reflection and repentance in the Christian faith.
    — Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Ash Wednesday is a holy day of reflection and repentance in the Christian faith.
    — Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Kim denies that his work today is repentance for past sins as a member of Kim Jong-il’s data gestapo.
    — Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2015
  • The ashes symbolize repentance and death for the believer, how Christ died for them.
    — Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 17 Feb. 2021
  • This day starts the Lenten period of repentance and preparation.
    — Joyce Orlando, The Tennessean, 12 Feb. 2024
  • But repentance is still possible.
    — Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 29 Mar. 2026
  • The ashes are meant to symbolize both death and repentance in order to begin Lent in a solemn, humble way.
    — Katie Bowlby, Country Living, 17 Feb. 2023
  • The High Holy Days are a time of prayer, reflection, repentance and atonement.
    — al, 28 Sep. 2020
  • Gul and Sullivan-Bennis knew the board was looking for repentance.
    — Longreads, 1 Mar. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'repentance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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