Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (a.) Regretful, sorrowful, broken in spirit because of a sense of sin. 2. (a.) Broken down with grief and penitence; deeply sorrowful for sin because it is displeasing to God; humbly and thoroughly penitent. 3. (n.) A contrite person. 4. (v.) In a contrite manner. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia CONTRITE; CONTRITION kon'-trit, kontrish'-un (dakka', "bruise"): Only in Old Testament (Psalm 34:18 Psalm 51:17 Isaiah 57:15); nakheh, "smitten" (Isaiah 66:2). Contrite, "crushed," is only the superlative of "broken"; "a contrite heart" is "a heart broken to pieces." In Holy Scripture, the heart is the seat of all feeling, whether joy or sorrow. A contrite heart is one in which the natural pride and self-sufficiency have been completely humbled by the consciousness of guilt. The theological term "contrition" designates more than is found in these passages. It refers to the grief experienced as a consequence of the revelation of sin made by the preaching of the law (Jeremiah 23:29). The Augsburg Confession (Article XII) analyzes repentance into two parts: "Contrition and faith," the one the fruit of the preaching of the law, the other of the gospel. While contrition has its degrees, and is not equal in all persons, the promise of forgiveness is not dependent upon the degree of contrition, but solely upon the merit of Christ. It is not simply a precondition of faith, but, as hatred of sin, combined with the purpose, by God's aid, to overcome it, grows with faith. H. E. Jacobs

Multi-Version Concordance Contrite (5 Occurrences) Psalms 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS) Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV) Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV) Isaiah 66:2 For all these things has my hand made, and so all these things came to be," says Yahweh: "but to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV) Jeremiah 44:10 They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers. (See NAS)