Pick the formal, common word "atone" when you want to strike a serious tone, even a spiritual or religious tone, as you describe someone trying to make things right after being selfish, hurtful, destructive, or even criminal.

Say that someone atones for some sin, crime, error, mistake, offense, failure, or scandal. For example: "America must atone for its brutal history of slavery." "A parent could never atone for being absent from their child's life."

Atonement is usually accomplished through some kind of action, not just an apology. For example: "America could, perhaps, atone for slavery by making payments to the descendents of enslaved people."

Although atonement is often spiritual, and often done to try to mend a relationship, it doesn't have to be either. It could just be a legal matter. "As ordered by a judge, they performed a hundred hours of community service to atone for vandalizing the statues."

"Medieval travelers were a hardy bunch, and sometimes walked hundreds of miles in order to atone for a sin or pray for a miracle."
  — Laura Amy Schlitz, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village, 2007

"Each January, Americans collectively atone for yet another celebratory season of indulgence. Some proclaim sobriety for 'Dry January...' But adopting a new fitness plan is the most popular vow."
   — Cody Musselman, Salon, 8 January 2023

has this page helped you understand "atone"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "atone" without saying "make amends" or "make someone whole."

try it out:

Commenting on superhero stories, Maya Phillips said:

"Forget the capes, the masks and the powers. We need humans — being good, being bad. As for heroes? They're the ones who make mistakes and atone for them, who try — and fail, but still try — to stay honest in a broken world."

Talk about what she means. And, if you can, give an example of a fictional character who atones for their mistakes, or tries to. Do you find this character heroic? Why or why not?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month: Poetic Connections!

Check out three snippets from a poem, along with three words we've studied—some beautiful, some outrageous—and decide which word you'll connect to each snippet. To see the definitions, highlight the hidden white text after each word. And to see an example, head here.

Try this set today:

"A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón

Snippets:
1. "every song of this country has an unsung third stanza"
2. "But the song didn’t mean anything, just a call to the field"
3. "the song in your mouth feels like sustenance"

Words:
A. phatic (meaning... spoken not to share information but for a social reason)
B. tangible (meaning... seeming real enough to touch)
C. tertium quid (meaning... a third thing that's often mysterious)

To see one possible set of answers, scroll all the way down; if your answers don’t match these, that's fine: all that matters is that yours make sense to you.

review this word:

1. Near opposites of ATONE are

A. SLIM and REDUCE.
B. OFFEND and INJURE.
C. DOUBLE and DUPLICATE.

2. In Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, the main character _____.

A. attempts to make up for ruining a man's life with a false accusation
B. narrates his experiences as an unborn child living in his mother's womb
C. sees his marriage fall apart almost immediately during a disastrous honeymoon

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. A I’d connect phatic to snippet 2 because the song lacks meaning despite being socially functional; tangible to snippet 3 because the song seems to become corporeal, like food; and tertium quid to snippet 1 for the mysterious third part of the song.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.