reprobate

American  

[rep-ruh-beyt] / ˈrɛp rəˌbeɪt /

noun

1. a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person.

   a drunken reprobate.

   Synonyms:

   cad, rascal, wretch, miscreant, wastrel, scoundrel, tramp, rogue

2. a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.

   Synonyms:

   pariah, outcast

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adjective

1. morally depraved; unprincipled; bad.

   Synonyms:

   corrupt, evil, sinful, wicked

2. rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation.

verb (used with object)

reprobated, reprobating

1. to disapprove, condemn, or censure.

   Synonyms:

   reprove, rebuke, blame, reprehend

2. (of God) to reject (a person), as for sin; exclude from the number of the elect or from salvation.

reprobate British  

/ ˈrɛprəʊˌbeɪt, ˈrɛprəbəsɪ /

adjective

1. morally unprincipled; depraved

2. Christianity destined or condemned to eternal punishment in hell

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noun

1. an unprincipled, depraved, or damned person

2. a disreputable or roguish person

   the old reprobate

verb

1. to disapprove of; condemn

2. (of God) to destine, consign, or condemn to eternal punishment in hell

Other Word Forms

• reprobacy noun
• reprobateness noun
• reprobater noun
• unreprobated adjective

Etymology

Origin of reprobate

1400–50; late Middle English reprobaten < Latin reprobātus; past participle of reprobāre to reprove

Explanation

There's no way around it, a reprobate is a bad egg. The black sheep of the family, missing a moral compass — a reprobate's been called everything from a deviant to an evildoer to a scoundrel. Selfish, depraved, disreputable, a reprobate is not known for his inner goodness. In fact, reprobates were once considered "rejected by God," the meaning of the noun in the 1500s. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, a reprobate was a popular literary character, sometimes amusing, as noted in Henry James' Daisy Miller, "What a clever little reprobate she was, and how smartly she played an injured innocence!"

Example Sentences

The other is “Fleabag”: Like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s acidic reprobate, Ms. Weisz’s character is unconstrained by a fourth wall, sharing with us, reflecting, observing, making wisecracks but not being particularly funny.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

Throughout the interview he describes himself, variously, as the "serial pest nuisance of Melbourne" and "an old reprobate, easily forgiven".

From BBC • Sep. 30, 2019

Is it really critical which exemplary reprobate you have worked with?

From Washington Post • Jun. 24, 2019

She ended by citing Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary as an example of the power of the reprobate imagination.

From The Guardian • Feb. 2, 2019

“He was just an old reprobate who lived poor and died broke,” Grandma said.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck