Meanings
plural reprobations
- countableuncountableThe act of reprobating; the state of being reprobated; strong disapproval, reproof or censure.
Set a brand of reprobation on clipped poetry and false coin.
1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC2 more examples
the profligate pretences upon which he was perpetually soliciting an increase of his disgraceful stipend are mentioned with becoming reprobation.
1808, Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, History and Historical MemoirsMrs. Seal wandered about with newspaper cuttings, which seemed to her either "quite splendid" or "really too bad for words." She used to paste these into books, or send them to her friends, having first drawn a broad bar in blue pencil down the margin, a proceeding which signified equally and indistinguishably the depths of her reprobation or the heights of her approval.
1919 October 20, Virginia Woolf, chapter VI, in Night and Day, London: Duckworth and Company […], →OCLC, page 81 - countableuncountableChristianityThe predestination of a certain number of the human race as reprobates, or objects of condemnation and punishment; damnation.
- countableuncountablegovernmentDisqualification to hold office.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinreprobatio
- Frenchréprobation
- Englishreprobation
From French réprobation, or Latin reprobatio. By surface analysis, reprobate + -ion.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
reprobation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprobation
“reprobation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprobation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reprobation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprobation.
Source: reprobation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.