sackcloth

[ sak-klawth, -kloth ]

/ ˈsækˌklɔθ, -ˌklɒθ /

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noun

sacking.

coarse cloth worn as a sign of mourning or penitence.

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Idioms about sackcloth

in sackcloth and ashes, in a state of repentance or sorrow; contrite: She would be in sackcloth and ashes for days over every trifling error she made.

Origin of sackcloth

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at sack¹, cloth

OTHER WORDS FROM sackcloth

sackclothed, adjective

Words nearby sackcloth

Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, sack, sackable, sackbut, sackcloth, sackcloth and ashes, sack coat, sack dress, sacker, sackful

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sackcloth in a sentence

Why do we don the sackcloth and ashes of the eternal victims?
Today's Lamentations|Aryeh Cohen|July 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry to the most High in my days.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Don't delude yourself with the notion that she is sitting down in sackcloth and ashes with her past!
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
And the men of Ninive believed in God: and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various

She is known to confess, and is suspected of wearing sackcloth.
Mystic London:|Charles Maurice Davies
But she was expiating it in very sackcloth and ashes, and he would add nothing to the burden on her back.
The Prime Minister|Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for sackcloth

sackcloth

/ (ˈsækˌklɒθ) /

noun

coarse cloth such as sacking

garments made of such cloth, worn formerly to indicate mourning or penitence

sackcloth and ashes a public display of extreme grief, remorse, or repentance

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012