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
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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
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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:
After a bit of a reprieve from an oppressively hot summer, another heat wave is set to scorch Southern California this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
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
Our call of the day comes from BTIG’s chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky, who said “some reprieve is in order” after the “largest/fastest momentum crash in modern history.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
An economist expects the reprieve to be temporary as energy prices have shot up again in July amid a renewed escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Georgina was such a dedicated gossip that the lessons provided a reprieve from her constant reports on the farm’s goings-on.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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
Newsom has granted 224 pardons, 150 commutations and 42 reprieves since taking office in 2019.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
He may grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
From Elements of Civil Government by Alexander L. Peterman
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
Maxwell was dropped twice, on 24 and 33, and also started to leave the field on 27 before, much to his surprise, he was reprieved after opting to review when given out lbw.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2023
Beaumont was reprieved on 61 as Australia opted against reviewing a catch, with replays showing she had hit the ball on to her boot before being caught at short leg.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2023
Maybe Stadium 974 could be reprieved for the Asian championship starting in 13 months’ time?
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2022
It did nothing to Snape, who for a split second seemed to think he had been reprieved: But then Voldemort’s intention became clear.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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
"But I am given to understand that there is law for reprieving her, if it is in the king's pleasure," said Jeanie.
From The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2 by Sir Walter Scott
What powerful influence induced the Prefect to risk the odium of reprieving a prisoner whose guilt was so satisfactorily ascertained as that of Ulpius never was disclosed.
From Antonina by Wilkie Collins
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.
