Idiom
wear sackcloth and ashes
Meaning
To publicly express regret for something done wrong.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He wears sackcloth and ashes for his mistake.”
“After the scandal broke, the politician appeared on television to wear sackcloth and ashes for his poor decisions.”
“The disgraced executive stood before the board of directors to wear sackcloth and ashes, hoping his public display of remorse would save his career.”
Examples
simple
“He wears sackcloth and ashes for his mistake.”
contextual
“After the scandal broke, the politician appeared on television to wear sackcloth and ashes for his poor decisions.”
complex
“The disgraced executive stood before the board of directors to wear sackcloth and ashes, hoping his public display of remorse would save his career.”
Origin
From the Bible Book of Esther 4:1 "When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly".
Key words
Related idioms
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