self-flagellation
noun1
Historical The practice of whipping oneself as penance for sins.
2
Informal Intense feelings of guilt.
- It was [...] followed by feelings of immense guilt and self-flagellation. What did I do wrong? What did I forget?2020, Louise Curtis with Sarah Johnson, A Nurseʼs Story: My Life in A&E During the Covid Crisis, Pan Books, page 70:
- Related terms
- beat one's breast, beat oneself up, hairshirt