opprobrious
Americanadjective
-
conveying or expressing opprobrium, as language or a speaker.
opprobrious invectives.
- Synonyms:
- contemptuous, vituperative, abusive, reproachful
- Antonyms:
- laudatory
-
outrageously disgraceful or shameful.
opprobrious conduct.
- Synonyms:
- ignominious, dishonorable
- Antonyms:
- reputable
adjective
-
expressing scorn, disgrace, or contempt
-
shameful or infamous
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of opprobrious
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin opprobriōsus, equivalent to Latin opprobri ( um ) opprobrium + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Opprobrious is a heavy-duty word to describe something taunting or shameful. Opprobrious words criticize in a mean, hurtful way. Opprobrious comes from the Latin opprobare which means "to reproach or taunt." If someone is being opprobrious, she's being abusive and mean. Insults are opprobrious, while constructive criticism is not. No one wants to be treated in an opprobrious way. We can also use this word for bad behavior that causes shame — someone cheating on a test is opprobrious. Opprobrious actions are disgraceful, ignominious, and inglorious.
Vocabulary lists containing opprobrious
"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane
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Paradise Lost
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Oliver Twist
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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.
He hated the term “black” — back then spelled with a lowercase B — which had often been an opprobrious way of talking about the people to whose fight for equality he’d devoted his life.
From New York Times • Jul. 14, 2021
On the one hand Jerry has zoned in on a fertile topic for humour – the idea that remarking on something as simple as the motion of a hand could result in opprobrious censure.
From The Guardian • Aug. 3, 2017
At one time or another, Harte partially earned many of the opprobrious epithets that Mark Twain hurled his way.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not one opprobrious epithet did he hurl, not one ringing denunciation.
From Time Magazine Archive
This is not hair-splitting in the opprobrious sense of that term.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by ?Malley, Austin
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.
