reprieve
Americanverb (used with object)
-
reprieves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reprieved,
past participle, past
-
reprieving
present participle
-
to delay the impending punishment or sentence of (a condemned person).
-
to relieve temporarily from any evil.
noun
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reprieves
plural
-
a respite from impending punishment, as from execution of a sentence of death.
-
a warrant authorizing this.
-
any respite or temporary relief.
- Synonyms:
- deferment, stay, postponement, delay
verb
-
to postpone or remit the punishment of (a person, esp one condemned to death)
-
to give temporary relief to (a person or thing), esp from otherwise irrevocable harm
the government has reprieved the company with a huge loan
noun
-
a postponement or remission of punishment, esp of a person condemned to death
-
a warrant granting a postponement
-
a temporary relief from pain or harm; respite
-
the act of reprieving or the state of being reprieved
Synonym Usage
See pardon.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reprievesimple
-
reprievessimple
-
have reprievedperfect
-
has reprievedperfect
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am reprievingprogressive
-
are reprievingprogressive
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is reprievingprogressive
-
have been reprievingperfect progressive
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has been reprievingperfect progressive
Past
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reprievedsimple
-
had reprievedperfect
-
was reprievingprogressive
-
were reprievingprogressive
-
had been reprievingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reprieve
First recorded in 1300–50; perhaps conflation of Middle English repreven “to contradict,” variant of reproven “to rebuke,” apparently taken in literal sense “to prove again, test again,” and Middle English repried (past participle of reprien “to bring back”), from Old French reprit (past participle of reprendre “to take back”; see reprise, reprove,
Explanation
A reprieve is a break in or cancellation of a painful or otherwise lousy situation. If you're being tortured, a reprieve is a break from whatever's tormenting you. For some, a night at the opera is a night of punishing boredom during which the only reprieve is the intermission. For others, it's baseball that feels like torture. The seventh-inning stretch is the only reprieve from a night of endless waiting. Often, you'll hear reprieve used when a court or governor decides not to execute a prisoner. That prisoner is given a reprieve and will be allowed to live. He probably won't get a reprieve from prison, though, unless he's found innocent.
Vocabulary lists containing reprieve
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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List 2
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The Constitution of the United States
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Greek firefighters faced another day of battling flames in high-risk conditions for new ignitions on Friday as France and Spain hoped for reprieve from massive infernos that blackened swathes of terrain.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
“There’s a slight reprieve between them, but not really.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
That reprieve was short-lived, however, and the U.S. average retail gasoline price has been creeping back toward $4 a gallon.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
Not even a Presidential appeal—and FIFA’s stunning, last-minute reprieve of the red-card suspended Folarin Balogun—could tilt the action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Their brief reprieve was over, however; people were coming at them from all directions.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
The decline is on the larger end among the reprieves for U.S. trading partners.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
This could negatively impact Alcoa’s tariff reprieves on its Canadian aluminum.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
In return, the companies get administration-backed reprieves from potential new U.S. tariffs for three years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Australia give Bangladesh numerous reprieves, with four dropped catches behind the wicket during their match in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2025
It was his to grant pardons for offenses against the laws of the Territory and provisional reprieves for offenses against the laws of the United States.
From History of the Constitutions of Iowa by Benjamin F. Shambaugh
The DOE review reprieved nearly 2,000 clean-technology projects, totaling close to $24 billion in funding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Even at 464-8, England could have escaped with something manageable, yet the reprieved Salman combined with Shaheen Shah Afridi to push Pakistan beyond 500.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2024
Mark Wood had George Munsey, who made 41 not out from 31 balls, caught on 16 but the opener was reprieved when Wood was shown to have bowled a front-foot no-ball.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2024
Joe Root is reprieved by Cameron Green's no-ball after gloving behind on 1 on day two of the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2023
When she discovered that she had nine months to go before the baby came, she felt like a reprieved criminal.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
While it was Rory Burns reprieving Warner at the Gabba, this time it was Jos Buttler inexplicably shelling Marnus Labuschagne.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2021
A Vestal can't use her prerogative of reprieving criminals," said Brinnaria, "unless she encounters by accident a criminal being led to execution.
From The Unwilling Vestal by Edward Lucas White
President Madero was telegraphed to, and immediately replied, reprieving Villa's sentence, and ordering him to be sent to Mexico City pending further official investigation.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 21 The Recent Days (1910-1914) by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne
He refused to attend a cabinet meeting because he was trying to find a reason for reprieving a soldier.
From The Battle of Principles A Study of the Heroism and Eloquence of the Anti-Slavery Conflict by Newell Dwight Hillis
He was intrusted with the power of appointment to offices, with a suspensory veto, and with the royal prerogative of reprieving or pardoning criminals.
From The Critical Period of American History by John Fiske
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
