self-reproach
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of self-reproach
First recorded in 1770–80
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.
Young Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, is burdened with self-reproach, while old King Lear suffers from narcissism, vanity and madness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Do you think all this self-reproach is useful, Mark?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2025
I’m flushed, too warm, I stink, sweat drips, rivulets of self-reproach; he is near me now, dry and smiling; it unnerves me, his dryness.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
Perhaps it was easier to give in to the sea than to the self-reproach of allowing it to get the better of me.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2021
The stain this has left on my psyche is not the sort of thing that washes off after a few months of grief and guilt-ridden self-reproach.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
