wear sackcloth and ashes
Show dramatic penitence
To wear sackcloth and ashes is to display extreme grief, remorse, or penitence.
The phrase comes from the ancient Near Eastern practice of wearing rough cloth and sprinkling ashes on oneself as signs of mourning or repentance.
Today it's usually figurative and often ironic, suggesting excessive or performative contrition: I made one mistake—do I have to wear sackcloth and ashes forever?
- eat crowAcknowledge embarrassing error
- eat humble pieAdmit error humbly
- mea culpaAcknowledgment of personal blame
- repentantFeeling sorrow for misdeeds
- penitenceRemorse for misdeeds
contrition · remorse · humble · burlap · hessian · atonement · Job · Old Testament · lamentation · shame · beat one's breast · symbolic gestures · mourning rituals · guilt · regret · humility · beg forgiveness · grief
wear sackcloth and ashescelebrate
Honor through festivity
rejoice · gloat · exult · revel · make merry
wear sackcloth and ashesdouble down
Strengthen one's stance
thumb one's nose · hold one's head high · stand one's ground · dig in one's heels
wear sackcloth and ashessuffer in silence
Endure pain without complaint
keep a stiff upper lip · grin and bear it · hold one's head high
wear, wears, wore, worn, wearing, wearer, wearable, sackcloth, sack