What's the difference between contrite and trenchant?

Contrite


Definition:

  • (a.) Thoroughly bruised or broken.
  • (a.) Broken down with grief and penitence; deeply sorrowful for sin because it is displeasing to God; humbly and thoroughly penitent.
  • (n.) A contrite person.
  • (v.) In a contrite manner.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This sends the dangerous message that the citizens of the debtor countries need to suffer badly to signal their contrition.
  • (2) "I take complete responsibility and offer nothing but love and contrition and I hope that now Jonathan and the BBC will endure less forensic wrath.
  • (3) Ken Livingstone has delivered a rare public display of contrition, following a backlash over leaked remarks made by him in a private meeting which were interpreted as saying that Jewish voters would not vote for him because they were rich.
  • (4) It's no surprise, then, that displays of contrition over his defeat by Boris Johnson in 2008 have not been a feature of the start of his campaign to take back the mayoralty in 2012.
  • (5) With Oldham Athletic pulling out of a deal to sign the player in the face of pressure from the public and sponsors, Evans’s statement via the Professional Footballers’ Association marks his first act of contrition towards the victim since he walked from prison on licence 83 days ago.
  • (6) It's the first interview he's done since his marriage and divorce and the split-up of the Ordinary Boys, and it all comes rushing out in a spate, a tangle of chronological confusions and jokes, and groans when I quote some of his old interviews back at him, and statements of contrition, and digressions about Dawkins or whatever, and here's the confounding thing - he's really nothing like I was expecting, not indie-boy sulky, or attempting to play it cool, he's just talkative and engaging, and he has a sense of humour about himself that, from reading his previous interviews, I wouldn't have even guessed at.
  • (7) The quartet wrestles its way to the end of Shostakovich's unquiet masterpiece, the reprised Largo with its complex contrition and very adult fears.
  • (8) "He was an unreliable witness and showed little contrition by pointing the finger at many of his former executives.
  • (9) 'Show contrition' said George Osborne's notes – but what did that mean?
  • (10) But Lind will have to decide whether she believes Manning is really contrite, and not merely apologising as a pragmatic bid for a shorter sentence.
  • (11) [Modi's] lack of contrition is outweighed by his rising profile as a possible ministerial candidate.
  • (12) So would anyone looking for an expression of contrition or regret.
  • (13) In a statement that contained little contrition for putting investors, staff and customers through a fruitless two weeks, Duch-Pedersen insisted that shareholders were continuing to "express their overwhelming support for the standalone G4S business and its management".
  • (14) Labour's Margaret Hodge , chair of the public accounts committee said Barlow "might want to show a bit of contrition by giving back his OBE".
  • (15) But Burnham, who has been publicly contrite about the frontbench’s ill-judged refusal to vote against the second reading of the government’s welfare bill at the start of the summer, could now reach out to the left by campaigning vigorously against this legislation.
  • (16) Any settlement should include a formal apology, but contrition alone would not be enough, he said.
  • (17) Donald Trump, on his Republican critics Whether Trump will be capable of showing genuine contrition when he faces Hillary Clinton on the debate stage at Washington University in St Louis on Sunday night remains in doubt.
  • (18) You can see when you speak to him how sorry he is about it and he's certainly shown quite a lot of contrition to us and as part of that, he's also asked we donate the fine to the Hillsborough Family Support Group.
  • (19) Hari is also handing back the George Orwell prize he won as "an act of contrition for the errors I made elsewhere, in my interviews" and will undertake "a programme of journalism training" during his leave of absence.
  • (20) "Despite some of the ways in which things come out as arrogant there are people at the top who are contrite and want to do the right thing," he said.

Trenchant


Definition:

  • (v. t.) Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.
  • (v. t.) Fig.: Keen; biting; severe; as, trenchant wit.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The hostility Said encountered from pro-Israeli circles in New York was predictable, given his trenchant attacks on Israeli violations of the human rights of Palestinians and his outspoken condemnations of US policies in the Middle East.
  • (2) He went with a bang not a whimper: two of his last contributions to the New Republic were a trenchant critique of the history of the six-day war by Michael Oren, now Israeli ambassador to Washington, and an evisceration of Koba the Dread, Martin Amis's purported book on Stalin.
  • (3) Yet with growing numbers of civilian deaths and escalating violence, many British Syrians have become more trenchant in putting forward pro- or anti-regime views.
  • (4) This year she won plaudits from fellow peers and disability activists alike over a series of trenchant interventions on the controversial welfare reform bill .
  • (5) "If there is one thing that has been wrong with this World Cup it is Fifa’s ridiculous insistence that teams wear predominantly light or dark strips," begins Stewart Todd, before taking a deep breath and resuming his diatribe, utilising both the 'relentless' and 'trenchant' styles.
  • (6) Ruggie’s report was welcomed by Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and a trenchant critic of the lack of progress by Qatar on the migrant workers issue.
  • (7) Jones told Turnbull that because he had had dinner with Palmer, a trenchant critic of Abbott, “people” were suggesting that “precisely because you have no hope ever of being the leader again – you have got that into your head, no hope ever – that because of that you are happy to chuck a few bombs around that might blow up Abbott a bit, that is what they are saying.” Turnbull replied that it was Jones who was undermining the Abbott government and “doing the work of the Labor party”, a charge not usually levelled at the Sydney announcer who is an ardent supporter of the prime minister.
  • (8) He was speaking to The Independent, which reports: Mr Fisher trenchantly defends those decisions made at the height of the crisis.
  • (9) That is not only because of McDonnell’s trenchant hard-left economic views, but also because of his combative approach.
  • (10) The White House, fearing the impact of a European disaster on Barack Obama's re-election campaign, is becoming more trenchant in its criticism of the eurozone and its demands of the Germans.
  • (11) Former centre-right president Nicolas Sarkozy was reported to have supplied his own trenchant critique, even as Brignoles voters were preparing to elect Lopez in the second round.
  • (12) The comments from Maria Hutchings, described by Lib Dems as a Sarah Palin figure for her trenchant views and tendency to speak off-message, provoked a storm of protest as political opponents and state-educated celebrities, said she had insulted state schools, including two local ones with glowing Ofsted reports.
  • (13) I don't for a minute accept the logic of reforms that put individuals in private debt to avoid public debt but even the most trenchant libertarian can find fault when those same reforms end up costing the Treasury more money.
  • (14) He chose to release a trenchantly-worded judgment, explaining why had made the initial ruling to keep the identity of the footballer secret, in which he concluded there was "ample reason not to trust" the young woman.
  • (15) For old hands at the negotiations, such as Yvo de Boer, a former Dutch civil servant and UN climate chief known for his trenchant views, the conferences have become trapped in an endless cycle of repeats.
  • (16) But Abbott’s trenchant opposition to the fund is seen as an impediment to any contribution.
  • (17) As a result, general inequality has been becoming more grievous with every year that passes, and without a bleat from the leaders of the party who once spoke up so trenchantly and characteristically for greater equality.
  • (18) Rival Palestinian groups have hailed the signing of a reconciliation agreement that could change the parameters of the search for Middle East peace, amid trenchant opposition from Israel.
  • (19) The faith-based failure to plan for the invasion’s aftermath, rightly damned in trenchant terms by Sir John, was the most catastrophic for the Iraqi people, and indeed for the British service personnel in harm’s way.
  • (20) He has been the most prominent of black British intellectuals since the 1960s, a prominent figure of the Open University and among the most trenchant critics of Thatcherism.