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Unfamiliar with opprobrium? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Just kidding—unfamiliarity with a word is hardly grounds for, well, opprobrium. We're here to learn! Besides, opprobrium is quite formal and has few close relations in English. It comes from the Latin verb opprobrāre, which means "to reproach." That verb, in turn, comes from the noun probrum, meaning "a disgraceful act" or "reproach." The adjective form of opprobrium is opprobrious, which in English means "deserving of scorn" or "expressing contempt." One might commit an "opprobrious crime" or be berated with "opprobrious language," for example.
Examples of opprobrium in a Sentence
Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026
The policies pursued by the Islamic Republic in the 1990s—the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie and attempts to kill his associates, the terror bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina—gained it nothing but opprobrium.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026
Govan and Zumthor, who until now has never built a building in the US, inspired years of pearl clutching in Los Angeles over the development—one art critic even earned a Pulitzer Prize for his opprobrium.
—Mark Guiducci, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026
The post was deleted after other commenters were more pointed in their opprobrium.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 15 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for opprobrium
Cite this Entry
“Opprobrium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opprobrium. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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opprobrium
noun
