reprove
verb (used with object)
to criticize or correct, especially gently.
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.
“There’s a dad that’s not doing it,” she repeated — less incredulous than reproving now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2025
“There is no part of the country where opinion is narrower than it is here,” Mr. Brooke tells a reproving neighbor, Mrs. Cadwallader, the rector’s wife.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 21, 2019
Today, she looks thin but healthy, her eyes radiating a quizzical alertness that can be almost unsettling when she occasionally fixes you with a slightly reproving stare.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 29, 2018
I was the first one to giggle, and on my second giggle I got a sternly reproving look from the man sitting ahead of me.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2015
“Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” said Slughorn, wagging a reproving, sugar-covered finger at Riddle, though ruining the effect slightly by winking.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
