reprove
Americanverb (used with object)
-
reproves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reproved,
past participle, past
-
reproving
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
reproves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reproved,
past participle, past
-
reproving
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See reproach.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reprovesimple
-
reprovessimple
-
have reprovedperfect
-
has reprovedperfect
-
am reprovingprogressive
-
are reprovingprogressive
-
is reprovingprogressive
-
have been reprovingperfect progressive
-
has been reprovingperfect progressive
Past
-
reprovedsimple
-
had reprovedperfect
-
was reprovingprogressive
-
were reprovingprogressive
-
had been reprovingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reprove
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English reproven, from Old French reprover, from Late Latin reprobāre, equivalent to re- re- + probāre “to test,” ( see prove)
Explanation
If you get into trouble and are sent to the principal’s office, be prepared for the principal to reprove you for your behavior. To reprove is to scold, reprimand, or — in plain English — “chew out.” Reprove is a verb used in the same way as “scold,” or “dress down.” To reprove is to express your dissatisfaction or disapproval with something. It’s a less severe word than denounce or decry. It is closer to the verb criticize. Your parents might reprove you for a minor offense like not cleaning your room or chewing with your mouth open. And, for the record, reprove is not the root word prove with the prefix re- as if to mean “prove again.” If you use it that way, someone would likely reprove you.
Vocabulary lists containing reprove
"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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"Uprising," Vocabulary from the historical novel
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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:
“I always feel like you have to reprove yourself,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
“You have to reprove yourself in order to establish your credibility.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2015
Everyone on Capitol Hill is focused on squeezing months worth of work into several days, so the panel’s decision to clear two members and reprove two others was like an end-of-the-year document dump.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2014
So you’ve got to really prove and reprove yourself over and over and over again just to get an opportunity.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2012
To attempt to reprove the world's ways while we profit by association with it, is vanity; the world will attach very little weight to such reproof and such testimony.
From Notes on the Book of Genesis by Charles Henry Mackintosh
“I could do without becoming known as the man who has a hugger for a son,” he reproves when Cal tries to embrace him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Jack’s shoulders are slumped forward, his arms crossed, while John’s maternal aunt Annie reproves him with an extended finger.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2018
In a club a testy gentleman behind whose favorite armchair a bomb has just torn a gaping hole in floor and ceiling reproves an anxious flunkey: "I'm perfectly aware of that."
From Time Magazine Archive
Your reviewer reproves me for "sardonic excesses," saying I am "capable of snapping that a man with a dicebox might grant and deny paroles as fairly as most boards."
From Time Magazine Archive
Read in the Odysseia how Telemachos reproves and silences his mother.
From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels
Mr. Meadows was also reproved by the House Ethics Committee in 2018 for mishandling sexual harassment allegations against a top aide.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2020
Both lawmakers were reproved by the Ethics Committee.”
From Fox News ● Nov. 16, 2018
“We must all take responsibility for using facts correctly and for verifying anything we spread,” Stefan Lofven, the Swedish prime minister, reproved Trump at a news conference.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 21, 2017
He was immediately reproved by scores of his readers, as well as by a commentary in The Economist, “The World Is His Parking Spot,” that applied basic social cost-benefit analysis.
From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2011
“I’m surprised at you for spreading rumors, William,” she reproved him.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Today, children are more likely to have to go to a chain grocery store for candy, and odds are they’d have to be driven there, and escorted through the purchase by a reproving adult.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
He’s become less circumspect about reproving the manners of high-born courtiers around him—and despite their pride in their own chivalry, they are indeed a boorish lot.
From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2020
When Donnersmarck reached for a Snickers, his mother shot him a reproving look.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 14, 2019
But she does put it to coolly subversive use. At social gatherings she turns her grin into a shield, a mask of contentment that can clench, without warning, into a reproving stare.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2017
He turned on his heel and stormed out of the library, earning himself a reproving glare from Madam Pince, who was polishing the gilded cover of a large spell book.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
