PsychologyAugust 30, 2026

contrite

kun-TRITE

Definition

Feeling or showing deep remorse, regret, or repentance for having committed a wrong.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'contritus', the past participle of 'conterere', meaning to grind or bruise. It originally conveyed the idea of a heart being 'bruised' or crushed by a sense of guilt.

In the news

The article uses the word to distinguish between people who over-apologize due to a low threshold for what constitutes an offense versus those who apologize because they are genuinely feeling remorseful.

The psychology of over-apologizing: what genuinely happy people have stopped saying sorry for, and why

Read the full article ↗

ScienceBlog.com

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