hair shirt

noun

1. a garment of coarse haircloth, worn next to the skin as a penance by ascetics and penitents.
2. self-imposed punishment, suffering, sacrifice, or penance.

hair shirt

noun

1. a shirt made of haircloth worn next to the skin as a penance
2. a secret trouble or affliction

Word History and Origins

Origin of hair shirt¹

1350–1400; hair

Idioms and Phrases

A self-imposed punishment or penance, as in I apologized a dozen times—do you want me to wear a hair shirt forever? This term, mentioned from the 13th century on, alludes to wearing a coarse, scratchy hair shirt, the practice of religious ascetics. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1800s.

Example Sentences

“You don’t have to be vegan or take cold showers or wear a hair shirt, but just consuming less things is really helpful for the environment,” she said.

From Seattle Times

This is a coming-of-age story in which the transition from adolescence to adulthood is akin to swapping one hair shirt for another.

From Washington Post

It’s not long before she’s wearing a hair shirt and sleeping on the floor with rats.

From Los Angeles Times

“Christ suffered so much that wearing a hair shirt is surely not painful. In my case I already have calluses, 40 years old, you can imagine,” he told local station Exitosa.

From Reuters

He wore his perfectionism like a hair shirt, and he expected it of others.

From New York Times