Thesaurus results for ATONE

atone

verb

Definition of atone

as in to apologize

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of atone But then Godzilla re-emerged, and Kōichi resolved to die fighting the monster to atone for Odo Island. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026 Gray atoned with an RBI double in the fifth to break up Martin's shutout bid. — CBS News, 28 May 2026 Edmundson, who’d lost MacKinnon on his first goal, atoned by receiving Kempe’s pass in the high slot and flicking a shot that clipped Wedgewood on its way into the net. — Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 26 Apr. 2026 And that is something that needs to be redeemed and addressed and atoned for. — Lindsay Kimble, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for atone

Recent Examples of Synonyms for atone

Verb

Brown apologized on behalf of Jones Road, noting that her team ran a trademark search that didn’t turn up any previous ownership of the name.

— Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 16 Oct. 2026
The broadcaster apologized to Trump over the edit and the head of the BBC and the British broadcaster’s top news executive both resigned.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of apologize

Verb

When his young son is ostensibly abducted for ransom on Halloween night, Mark must confess his financial ruin to his therapist wife, Abigail (Washington), who has actually been having an ongoing affair with a coworker.

— Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026
Sounds like a good job for a ghost, driving guilty parties to confess.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of confess

Verb

And while the challenges of the job don’t excuse the criminal actions, researchers and legal experts said, those experiences can often contribute to their behavioral issues.

— Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 12 Oct. 2026
Every so often, Singh would excuse himself to the bathroom and jot down Pattinson’s ideas.

— Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of excuse

Verb

Boutique brand Katikies has brought the success of its sister hotel in Oia, Santorini, to Mykonos, with a spacious, whitewashed sanctuary on the island’s southwest coast.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
To freshmen from then to now, whitewashing the rock(s) before the season has tended to create a sense of belonging and ownership.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of whitewash

Verb

The targeting of civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, particularly airports, illustrates the retaliatory logic the Houthis have invoked to justify their actions.

— Laurent Bonnefoy, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
There is always a new spectacle, a new gimmick to lure people into a theater and justify the cost of a ticket.

— Sam Fleischner, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of justify

Verb

But acting on behalf of Iran, a non-Arab Persian country composed almost entirely of Twelver Shia Muslims, was considerably more difficult to rationalize in Arab Yemen where Twelver Shia Muslims are absent and Sunnis are the majority.

— Laurent Bonnefoy, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
Ahmed doesn’t merely document the decisions that led President Biden and his aides to arm and rationalize what leading human rights organizations and legal scholars now consider a genocide.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of rationalize

Browse Nearby Words

at once

atone

atoned

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Atone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atone. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of atone

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes