sackcloth

plural sackcloths

1. countableuncountableA coarse hessian style of cloth used to make sacks.
2. alsocountablefigurativelyuncountableusuallyGarments worn as an act of penance.

   After he realised the gravity of his crime he spent some time wearing sackcloth and ashes.

   2 more examples

   Next you saw her alone, a kneeling penitent at the foot of the crucifix; her long fair hair is unbound, and the sackcloth robe is girded by a cord round her slender shape: her hands are clasped, and tears are flowing fast from the quenched radiance of those shadowy eyes;...

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 144

   No more ashes, no more sackcloth / And an armband made of black cloth / Will someday never more adorn a sleeve

   1959, “We Will All Go Together When We Go”, in Tom Lehrer (music), An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, performed by Tom Lehrer

   Synonyms: hairshirt, cilice