breast-beating

[ brest-bee-ting ]

noun

1. a loud and demonstrative display of grief, remorse, or the like:

   The authorities indulged in a great deal of breast-beating about traffic accidents but failed to pass new driving laws.

adjective

1. characterized by or involving breast-beating.

Other Words From

• breast-beater noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of breast-beating¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

The fact that Jewish youths behaved like this should scare even our breast-beating nationalist leaders into some soul searching.

From The Daily Beast

They must have dismissed India as a soft state whose breast-beating is easily calmed by tokenism.

From The Daily Beast

Red-Eye abruptly ceased his breast-beating and tooth-grinding, and ran across the timber-jam to the shore.

From Project Gutenberg

Breast-beating is as solitary as any other form of masturbation.

From Project Gutenberg