unshriven

9.9

A person who dies without having their sins forgiven

adjective
/ʌnˈʃrɪvən/

Archaic

: sin absolver

The soldier faced death in battle, unshriven and burdened by his past misdeeds.

Examples

Let me not undergo the real pains of hell, dear God, because I die unshriven.

The Wicker Man (1973)
He feared that he would die unshriven, without having confessed his sins.
They will become lame and blind, musicians for the king's daughters, and I will become the hag in the kitchen, and all three of us will die, unshriven, of fever.

Fiction book (2000)
In her last moments, she regretted not seeking forgiveness and realized she would leave the world unshriven.

Synonyms

unforgiven

vsunshriven

2 5.8

A wrong action that people still blame someone for and do not accept an apology

is about missing formal religious absolution rather than everyday pardon

unsaved

vsunshriven

2 9.1

A person who does not accept religious forgiveness and may face punishment after death

is narrower stressing absence of last religious forgiveness before death

unabsolved

vsunshriven

1 9.6

Not forgiven and still feeling guilty

is about lacking religious absolution specifically before death

unredeemed

vsunshriven

Literature

1 9.2

Not saved from sin and in danger of being punished forever

focuses on lacking final absolution before death rather than lost salvation

How Forgiven

absolved

Formal

6.0

unshriven

Archaic

9.9

Surface Forms

unshriven positive

Morphology

unshriven = shriven (opaque) = un + shriven

Although formed by the productive prefix 'un' + 'shriven', 'shriven'/'shrive' is archaic and specialized, so the meaning is not recoverable to most learners from its parts.

Etymology

Unshriven breaks into un- and shriven: un- means 'not' and shrive means 'to be forgiven after you tell your sins', the same root as shrove in 'Shrove Tuesday'. So unshriven describes someone 'not forgiven', especially a person who dies without having confessed their sins.