impenitent

American  

[im-pen-i-tuhnt] / ɪmˈpɛn ɪ tənt /

adjective

1. not feeling regret about one's sin or sins; obdurate.

   Synonyms:

   hardened, uncontrite, unrepentant

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impenitent British  

/ ɪmˈpɛnɪtənt /

adjective

1. not sorry or penitent; unrepentant

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Other Word Forms

• impenitence noun
• impenitency noun
• impenitently adverb
• impenitentness noun

Etymology

Origin of impenitent

1525–35; < Late Latin impaenitent- (stem of impaenitēns ) unrepentant. See im- ², penitent

Explanation

To be impenitent is to have no remorse or regrets. Your brother was impenitent when he ate the cupcakes that you had baked for your club fundraiser. Not nice. The word repent is hiding in impenitent. When you repent, you regret or feel sorry about something you've done. Impenitent and repent share the Latin root penitire meaning "to regret," but add im- meaning "not" for impenitent and you've got the opposite: "to not regret or repent." A criminal who is impenitent about feels no shame about what he's done.

Example Sentences

In Maxwell’s impenitent gaze, we could see the broader audacity of the Epstein affair.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 16, 2019

She loved that Lorraine was impenitent and fought out of professional duty, rather than to avenge, say, the loss of a husband or child.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2017

But her new employer, Politico Europe, was keen to appoint an impenitent to fire warning shots across the commission’s bow.

From The Guardian • Jun. 18, 2015

“I declare myself an impenitent believer in the power of preaching,” he told an evangelical group in New York in 2006, by then a frail and stooped figure walking with a cane.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2011

I left my cousin not three hours ago in the place where she is confined as an impenitent by the judgment of the Abb� Laroche.

From The Plowshare and the Sword A Tale of Old Quebec by Trevena, John