1
feel/look/sound contrite
feel、look、sound 等系动词后可直接接 contrite，描述人的主观感受或给人的印象。
She sounded contrite on the phone.
她在电话里听起来很懊悔。
悔悟的；后悔的；痛悔的
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
悔悟的；后悔的；痛悔的
feeling or expressing sorrow or regret for one's sins or offenses
She sounded contrite on the phone.
她在电话里听起来很懊悔。
真诚忏悔的,尤指对自己的行为感到懊悔或悲痛的。
Sincerely penitent or feeling regret or sorrow, especially for one’s own actions.
After breaking his neighbor's window, the boy wrote a contrite letter of apology.
在打破邻居的窗户后，男孩写了一封悔悟的道歉信。
She felt genuinely contrite for forgetting her friend's birthday.
她因为忘记朋友的生日而真心感到后悔。
His contrite expression showed that he regretted the harsh words.
他悔悟的表情表明他后悔说了那些刻薄的话。
feel、look、sound 等系动词后可直接接 contrite，描述人的主观感受或给人的印象。
She sounded contrite on the phone.
她在电话里听起来很懊悔。
表示对某事后悔时，用介词 about 或 for 引出原因，后可接名词或动名词。
He was contrite about breaking the vase.
他因打碎花瓶而深感懊悔。
作定语修饰名词时，常见搭配有 apology、smile、expression、manner 等。
She gave me a contrite smile.
她对我露出一个充满悔意的微笑。
Not this
He contrite for his mistake.
Use this
He was contrite for his mistake.
英语形容词不能单独作谓语，必须与系动词连用。contrite 是形容词，应在前面加 was 构成系表结构。
Not this
She was contrite of her actions.
Use this
She was contrite about her actions.
contrite 表示“对……后悔”时，搭配介词常用 for 或 about，不能用 of。of 通常表示所属关系。
Not this
She expressed her contrite for the mistake.
Use this
She expressed her contrition for the mistake.
contrite 是形容词，不能作宾语；表示“悔悟”的名词形式是 contrition。应使用名词形式作为动词的宾语。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
悔悟的心
He returned with a contrite heart and asked for forgiveness.
他带着悔悟的心回来请求原谅。
痛悔的道歉
She wrote a contrite apology to her colleague.
她给同事写了一封痛悔的道歉信。
痛悔的罪人
The church welcomed the contrite sinner.
教会欢迎那位痛悔的罪人。
深感懊悔的
He was deeply contrite about the harm he had caused.
他对造成的伤害深感懊悔。
懊悔的表情
Her contrite expression made me forgive her at once.
她懊悔的表情让我立刻原谅了她。
感到后悔
I feel contrite for forgetting your birthday.
我为自己忘了你的生日感到后悔。
神所要的祭就是忧伤的灵；神啊，忧伤痛悔的心，你必不轻看。
After being caught cheating, he wrote a contrite letter of apology to his teacher.
被抓到作弊后，他给老师写了一封悔悟的道歉信。
Use contrite naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
联想：罪人跪地捶胸痛哭，‘我错了！’——发自内心的痛悔，就是 contrite。
语域：formal 常见场景：文学作品、正式演讲、书面道歉 该词通常用于正式或书面语境，多出现在文学作品、演讲或正式道歉中；日常口语中较少使用，更常见的是 sorry 或 apologetic。
The target /ˈkɒntraɪt/ has stress on the first syllable, so none of the listed words rhymes exactly with it. 'contact' and 'contrary' share the initial /ˈkɒnt/ or /ˈkɒntr/ sound; 'trite', 'rite', 'polite', and 'ignite' are spelling lookalikes with a final stressed /aɪt/, not the target's unstressed /traɪt/.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.