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shrive

shrove; shriven; shrived; shriving; shrives

To shrive is to hear someone's confession and forgive them. It's not easy, but once your brother has admitted to reading your diary and apologized, it's best to shrive him and move on.

Though this verb is mainly considered to be archaic, you may occasionally come across it in the context of a Catholic priest absolving someone of sin. You can also shrive yourself by laying your sins or misdeeds on the table, in hopes of absolution and forgiveness: "After my friend was blamed for stealing those cookies, I decided to shrive myself and promise never to do it again."

Definitions of shrive
  1. verb
    grant remission of a sin to
    synonyms: absolve
    see moresee less
    type of:
    forgive
    stop blaming or grant forgiveness
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