Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
shrift

shrift

1 9.9
To tell a priest your sins and receive forgiveness
  • noun
  • /ʃrɪft/
  • Archaic
: confesión
  • The faithful believe that shrift is essential for spiritual cleansing.
  • give short shrift
  • get short shrift
  • receive short shrift

Examples

  • I would thou wert so happy by thy stay to hear true shrift.

    Shakespeare in Love (1998)

  • Many parishioners seek shrift during Lent to prepare for Easter.

  • Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

    Romeo + Juliet (1996)

  • Before the ceremony began, he made sure to receive shrift from the priest.

Synonyms

confession
vsshrift
74 4.6

Telling a priest about your sins to ask for forgiveness

includes receiving absolution and the resulting forgiven state

Antonyms

denial
101 2.8

Refusing a request or saying something is not true

concealment
4 5.0

Keeping something hidden or secret

Idioms

short shrift
  • Informal
6 8.4

Little attention paid to something that shows it is not taken seriously

Surface Forms

shrift singular
shrifts plural

Etymology

Shrift comes from an old English word related to the verb shrive, which means 'to hear confession'. A helpful way to remember it is the old phrase 'short shrift' — prisoners were once given only a short time to confess — so shrift is the act of confessing sins and getting forgiveness.