Contrite

WORD OF THE DAY
contrite / adjective  / KAHN-tryte 
 
Definition
: feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming


Examples
"… York did in fact say he was sorry and was contrite about making that mistake."
— Mark Purdy, The San Jose Mercury News, 1 Jan. 2017


"… several lawmakers called for stronger rules that compel companies to meet minimum cybersecurity standards…. But, as in years past, these efforts have yet to produce any new laws. In the meantime, the average person can do little except monitor their credit reports and hope that contrite companies—shamed by security researchers—will learn from their mistakes."
— Hayley Tsukayama, The Daily Herald (Everett, Washington), 23 Dec. 2017


Did You Know?
A person who is contrite may have rubbed someone the wrong way and caused bruised feelings—and there is a hint about the origins of the word in that thought. Contrite came to English by way of Anglo-French from the Latin verb conterere, meaning "to grind" or "to bruise."
Conterere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix com-, meaning "with" or "together," and terere, "to rub." If you've guessed that trite is a cousin of contrite (through terere), you are correct. Other terere descendants in English include detriment and very possibly the familiar verb try.