| 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 n. A coarse haircloth garment worn next to the skin by religious ascetics as penance. |
hair shirt
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.
