reprieve
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to delay the impending punishment or sentence of (a condemned person).
-
to relieve temporarily from any evil.
noun
-
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
-
am reprievingprogressive
-
are reprievingprogressive
-
is reprievingprogressive
-
have been reprievingperfect progressive
-
has been reprievingperfect progressive
Past
-
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:
In the end, the intervention bought them only a short reprieve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Amber Anning earned a reprieve after a false start in the 400m but the world indoor champion regrouped to retain her title, winning in a time of 50.16 seconds.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Britain was holding a key local election on Thursday that could trigger the endgame for Labour leader Keir Starmer's beleaguered premiership, or win him a reprieve.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Very hot showers and baths also provide a reprieve from nausea.
From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026
Today we got a nice little reprieve from the horror that is calculus.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Extradition requests typically drag on for months, sometimes years, as those targeted seek reprieves from Mexican courts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
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
A governor has power to grant reprieves and pardons, except in cases of impeachment, and, in some states, of treason.
From The Government Class Book Designed for the Instruction of Youth in the Principles of Constitutional Government and the Rights and Duties of Citizens. by Young, Andrew W.
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
Given not out on the field, Weatherald was also reprieved on review by TV umpire Chris Gaffaney, despite small movement on the Snicko technology.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
Carey was on 72 at the time he was reprieved and went on to make a crucial 106.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
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
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
June ye 1st:—Ye Governor and ye magistrates voted ye reprieving of Eliz.
From The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4 by Various
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 White, Edward Lucas
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 Collins, Wilkie
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 Fiske, John
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.
