sackcloth

[ sak-klawth, -kloth ]

/ ˈsækˌklɔθ, -ˌklɒθ /

noun

coarse cloth worn as a sign of mourning or penitence.

Nearby words

sack race, sack suit, sack time, sackable, sackbut, sackcloth, sackcloth and ashes, sacker, sackful, sacking, sacks

Idioms

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

Related forms

sack·clothed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sackcloth

Why do we don the sackcloth and ashes of the eternal victims?
Today's Lamentations|Aryeh Cohen|July 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One is sorry for the poor men so proud of their sackcloth and with such encouraging recognition already won.
London|Walter Besant
He had been made sure that she had repented her own deed in sackcloth and ashes.
The Prime Minister|Anthony Trollope
Their dress is a tunic of sackcloth, tied round the waist with a knotted rope.
Letters from Spain|Joseph Blanco White

What do you suppose those Virginia girls were going to do about it, put on sackcloth and ashes?
From Bull Run to Appomattox|Luther W. Hopkins
We believe in them for the moment, and waste laughter and tears, chaplets and sackcloth, upon them.
In the Days of My Youth|Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards

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