reprobate

[rep-ruh-beyt]

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

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

/ ˈrɛprəʊˌbeɪt, ˈrɛprəbəsɪ /

adjective

1. morally unprincipled; depraved

2. Christianity destined or condemned to eternal punishment in hell

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
• reprobater noun
• reprobateness noun
• unreprobated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reprobate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of reprobate¹

C16: from Late Latin reprobātus held in disfavour, from Latin _re- + probāre to _approve ¹

Example Sentences

Castleberry can make you wonder which reprobate to care about most, which sin causes the most harm.

From Los Angeles Times

A pious woman beats the hell out of her reprobate husband after he gets a giant tattoo of Jesus on his back.

From New York Times

And a good thing too, since in Paul’s own estimation, Barton boys are, with rare exception, a hopeless bunch of “philistines,” “reprobates,” “troglodytes,” “degenerates,” “hormonal vulgarians,” “fetid layabouts” and “snarling Visigoths.”

From Los Angeles Times

The media are already ballyhooing about how Trump's indictment for the crimes of Jan. 6 is truly "historic" and "unprecedented" in American history and that the "walls have closed in" on the reprobate ex-president.

From Salon

The entire world economy and every person on the planet could suffer because of the likes of George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene and the other reprobates who hold McCarthy hostage — a fact Biden acknowledged Tuesday.

From Salon