reprobation

R1E1P3R1O1B3A1T1I1O1N1
/ˌɹɛpɹəˈbeɪʃən/

noun

The act of reprobating; the state of being reprobated; strong disapproval, reproof or censure.

RareScrabble 15

Meanings

nounreprobation (countable and uncountable, plural reprobations)

plural reprobations

  1. 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 […], →OCLC
    2 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 Memoirs

    Mrs. 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
  2. countableuncountableChristianityThe predestination of a certain number of the human race as reprobates, or objects of condemnation and punishment; damnation.
  3. countableuncountablegovernmentDisqualification to hold office.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Latinreprobatio
  2. Frenchréprobation
  3. Englishreprobation

From French réprobation, or Latin reprobatio. By surface analysis, reprobate + -ion.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

reprobation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprobation

MLA

“reprobation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprobation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reprobation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprobation.

Source: reprobation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.