reproachfully

American  

[ri-prohch-fuh-lee] / rɪˈproʊtʃ fə li /

adverb

1. in a way that expresses disapproval, blame, or censure.

   She did not answer, just looked at him reproachfully.

   A few of the other students glared reproachfully at me sitting in the back of the room.

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Other Word Forms

• unreproachfully
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of reproachfully

reproachful ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

When someone looks at you reproachfully, they’re expressing disappointment or disapproval, like the way your dog might look at you after you forget to feed him. The word reproachfully comes from the Middle English word reprochen, meaning "to rebuke" or "to blame." When someone looks at you reproachfully, they’re expressing disappointment or disapproval, letting you know they’re not happy with something you did or didn’t do. Picture the way a friend might look at you after you cancel plans at the last minute, or the way a teacher speaks to someone when they forget to turn in their homework for the third time in one week.

Example Sentences

“The eyes were very big and she looked so sadly and reproachfully at me that I could read in her eyes, ‘Oh, Anne, why have you deserted me?

From New York Times • Nov. 3, 2022

“Here, now,” I ventured reproachfully, “that has been considered a very beautiful passage. See, it describes your clothes. You are dressed in—let’s see—well, a sort of filmy garment. It streams out behind you—”

From The New Yorker • Mar. 13, 2017

New federal energy conservation program: an adapter that looks at you reproachfully when you plug something in.

From Washington Post • Feb. 11, 2016

In a May 2008 press release, OnDeck referred reproachfully to such lenders, who “charge excessive percentage rates for short term capital.”

From BusinessWeek • Nov. 13, 2014

The big dog gazed at Bod reproachfully, then stepped away into the shadows, and was gone.

From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman