sackcloth means A coarse hessian style of cloth used to make sacks. It carries an Arena rating of 1554, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sackcloth ranks #291 of 13,274 for Most Vivid Words, #1,150 of 13,274 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,219 of 13,274 for Most Storied Words, #3,991 of 13,274 for Most Exacting Words.
Why “sackcloth” is a great word
A coarse fabric, originally woven from goat's hair, used for sacks and, as a garment, to signify profound mourning, penance, or distress. Its name is a blunt Middle English compound: *sak* for bag, *cloth* for cloth. Unlike 'burlap,' which denotes a modern, utilitarian jute for potato sacks and rustic crafts, or 'hairshirt,' which specifies a cilice worn painfully against the skin for ascetic discipline, sackcloth is the public, symbolic drape of abasement. It is the grit of the weave against raw conscience, the smell of dust and animal hair rising in a ritualized cloud, and the stark silhouette of a renounced figure in the town square—the body made parable, a humility that seeks the comfort of discomfort.
Etymology
From Middle English sakcloth, sekcloth, sekclath, sekklath. By surface analysis, sack + cloth.
noun
- A coarse hessian style of cloth used to make sacks.
- Garments worn as an act of penance.“After he realised the gravity of his crime he spent some time wearing sackcloth and ashes.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- hairshirt 86% match — A shirt made of haircloth; especially one worn by ascetics or the penitent. vs sackcloth →
- tatters 82% match — Ragged clothing or fabric, paper, etc. vs sackcloth →
- fustian 81% match — Originally, a kind of coarse fabric made from cotton and flax; now, a kind of coarse twilled cotton, or cotton and linen, stuff with a short pile and often dyed a dull colour, which is chiefly prepared for menswear. vs sackcloth →
- penitential 81% match — Pertaining to penance or penitence. vs sackcloth →
- wadmal 81% match — Thick coarse heavily napped wool mostly (formerly) used in Scandinavia and parts of Britain in winter clothing for the poor, similar to melton. vs sackcloth →
- bombazine 81% match — A twilled or corded fabric made from silk, wool, or cotton dyed black. vs sackcloth →
- graveclothes 81% match — The clothes in which a corpse is buried. vs sackcloth →
- cerecloth 81% match — Cloth coated with wax so that it is waterproof, used for covering the dead. vs sackcloth →